Unwritten
by Kadi219
Summary: Raydor/Flynn - Spoilers for Episode 3.06 and previous. The future is unwritten, it is what we make of it. One relationship ends, while others grow stronger. [Romance, Fluff, Angst]
1. Chapter 1

Unwritten

by Kadi  
Rated: M

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me. Major Crimes is not my sandbox, I just enjoy playing in it from time to time.

**A/N:** I think they doth protest too much. Follow up to Episode 3.06 _Jane Doe_. Spoilers for this and previous episodes. After, it goes decidedly A/U and into Kadi-Land. I thought it a bit odd that Jack seemed to go for Andy the way he did... and that he was _fishing_ about Sharon possibly _dating_. This is the result of that. Enjoy!

**Content Warning:** I did not fade to black this time. Please heed warning.

For my fandom partners in crime: **kate04us** & **lontanissima**.

As always, special thanks to my beta **deenikn8** who does an amazing job! Any errors found within are all mine!

* * *

It was not a simple thing, pushing forward with a divorce. It was painful, this process of admitting that you were wrong, and that a marriage could not be saved. It was equally difficult to turn your back on vows which you had spent a lifetime attempting to uphold. There came a point, however, when enough was simply _enough_.

Sharon had long since reached that point. She was years past it. She grew past it wiping tears and consoling children, promising them that Daddy did love them, he was simply busy. Always too busy. Too busy for them or for her, too busy to remember a little league game or a recital, a birthday or a graduation. Her children stopped crying for him, and she stopped making excuses. She stopped believing in her husband, and in her marriage, long ago.

One thing Jack was always good at, though, was manipulating her. She would like to claim that it was his addiction, but thinking back, she knew that he had manipulated her from the start. It only stopped working when she began to recognize the signs. Although she knew she needed to admit, there were those moments when it was just easier to go along with it. When she just didn't have the energy to fight back. Yes, as Rusty had asked once, she knew what enabling was. She was guilty of that. She had enabled Jack and his hold over her every time she had given in to him in an effort just to make life more peaceful for herself.

Even last summer. She hadn't wanted to fight with Jack, not in front of Rusty. She hadn't wanted that turmoil in their lives. Maybe part of her was even a little embarrassed… here she was, finally on some kind of even footing with Rusty, finally earning the respect of her team, and along came Jack… bringing his usual brand of chaos into her life. She stood it, until she just couldn't anymore. Then, as usual upon having reached her boiling point with him, Jack just disappeared. He left, leaving behind his usual note, and she had the mess to clean up.

Sharon always told herself that this time was the last time. She always meant it in the beginning. Yet somehow, she always gave in again. To the pity, mostly, but also to her own need for calm and control. She had Rusty to think about now, however. He wasn't Ricky or Emily, he didn't have a lifetime's worth of foundation built beneath him that made Jack a simple obstacle. Not that the lack of their father's presence had ever been simple for her older children.

Therein lay the problem. Her _other_ children. If she was going to legalize Rusty's place in her life, something needed to be done. Her status of legal separation would not get the job done. Not this time. It might protect her financially from Jack's habits and addictions, but legally she was still married to the man.

She never expected he would try to use Rusty against her.

In all their years of marriage and separation, through all of the fighting and manipulation, Jack had never used the children against her. That was one line he never crossed. Abandon them, yes. Neglect them, oh indeed he had. He often forgot he even _had_ children. Never had he tried to hurt her with them. To manipulate the children to get his way? To hurt _them_ for his own petty and selfish wants? No… but then, Jack had known better.

Jack did not consider Rusty to be family.

Ultimately that was the final nail in the lid being closed on their marriage. She didn't need Jack to accept Rusty, but she fully expected that he would respect the boy's place in her life. She wanted a divorce, Sharon realized that upon having the papers drawn up, but more than that she wanted Rusty. She had given Jack the option hoping his sense of self preservation would kick in and he would make this easier on her.

More the fool was she.

More the fool was _he._

He had come at her through her child. Jack couldn't realize the hell that he was unleashing upon himself. He had, with that one act, completely demolished anything which remained that he could use to manipulate his way out of this predicament.

Divorce was never simple. This one was going to be ugly. That was not what Sharon had wanted. But if it was a fight that Jack was looking for, she would give him one. There was a land for Passive Aggressive wives… and for too long she had been its queen. No more.

Darth Raydor. It was time Jack learned the purpose behind that nickname. After all, he'd laughed at it long enough.

What Sharon had not expected was just how prepared Jack was for this fight. He must have sensed it was coming. She supposed that was the lawyer in him.

He was having her followed.

"You know darling, when I told you to have a little fun…" Gavin Baker waved the stack of photographs at her before tossing them onto his desk. "I never expected you would actually _listen_ to me. Which, obviously, you have done. What I do not understand is how I'm only now finding out about it!" His hands went to his hips and he glared at her. "You call yourself my friend, and then you let me get blindsided…"

Sharon rolled her eyes at the lawyer and continued her pacing. Gavin certainly had a flare for the dramatic, but then, he always had. It was one of the many reasons she adored him. "There is such a thing as being discreet, perhaps you've heard of it?" She didn't need to see the pictorial evidence, she was rather well acquainted with every documented moment. Not that they were doing anything wrong, of course. She was legally separated, he was divorced; more importantly, they were consenting adults. It was only a few dinners, perhaps a movie or two… and some other things.

As Sharon paced by Gavin's desk, her hand caught the photo on top and lifted it. She almost smiled. She wondered if it was this which had set Jack off the most; it certainly explained why he'd gone for Andy's jugular the moment he saw him in the Murder Room. She also recalled the event, it was weeks ago. That meant Jack had been having her followed for a while now. That incensed her, almost to the point of not being able to enjoy the photo. Andy would like this one, she thought, when he got over the urge to shoot her husband. Perhaps he would develop a new appreciation for the beanbag guns. Painful, but hardly deadly.

"Gavin," she said at last, "how can I explain something that I can hardly understand myself?" She waved the photo between them. "You think I went looking for anything, with _him,_ of all people? It wasn't long ago that we could hardly stand to look at each other, and now…"

"You're practically making out at little league." Gavin smirked at her. "You're getting naughty in your old age, Sharon."

She rolled her eyes at him again. Nicole and her husband had finally agreed to let the boys try different things. They were playing t-ball this summer. She had gone with Andy to a couple of games. She was, as always, his buffer. The picture told a different story. She was leaned back between his legs, as they sat in the stands watching, he on the level above her. Andy was bent, speaking to her while both their gazes were directed at the field. He had an arm casually draped over her shoulder, pointing at whatever they'd been discussing. It could have been explained away as being entirely innocent… save the way she was leaning to one side, against his knee, and the hand that was laying against his calf, just beneath the back of his knee, while she gestured in conversation with her other.

Yes, she supposed Jack would be a little put out by that. The image did speak of a level of familiarity that wasn't exactly… simple. It was hardly the most damning of the images Jackson's private investigator had caught.

The one that incensed her the most, that had _her_ wanting to go after him with a beanbag gun, was the photo which indicated he was having the condo watched. His PI had snapped a photo of her balcony, and that intrusion could not be forgiven. Sharon easily recalled the evening. It was only a few weeks ago. After one of many late dinners, she'd gone out onto the balcony to enjoy the cool night air while the kettle heated. Andy had followed her. Rusty wasn't at home. She stood against the rail, his hands at her hips, her back to his chest. Now caught on film was the kiss he'd dropped against her shoulder, beside the thin strap of the amethyst dress she wore that night. Sharon could hardly complain about what was captured in public locations, such as a baseball field, or their walking hand-in-hand outside a movie theater. Her balcony, on the other hand, that was a private domain. It was an extension of her home. She was enraged that she would be intruded on in that manner, especially after everything that happened with Weller that winter, after they finally started to feel safe again.

"I want a restraining order." Sharon decided. "There is nothing I can do about the public locations, I know that." Her eyes narrowed. "But I do not want Jack or his sleazy Private Investigator anywhere near my home or Rusty again. _Ever_." She shook her head. "He just started feeling safe again, and now this mess with his mother, and now _Jack_. No. Make it happen, Gavin. Whatever it takes." There weren't many rules that she would break, or even bend, for herself. For her children, it was an entirely different story. She would even defy the church and her Catholic upbringing to be rid of the blight on their existence that was Jackson Raydor.

"Yes, yes," Gavin looked almost insulted. "I figured as much, that ball is already rolling." He waved a hand through the air. "You realize, of course, you may not come out of this looking entirely golden. I think some of the shine will be lost from that halo of yours, my sweet." He looked mildly concerned by that, but knew Sharon well enough to not dwell too deeply. His head tilted. "We can probably work that angle too…"

"I don't care." She shrugged. "By this point, anyone who remains in my life that bears any importance at all is well aware of what Jack is, has done, and is capable of. Also, as you point out for me often enough, I've been _legally separated_ for twenty years. I'm hardly breaking any rules at this point. Besides," she shot an amused and rather wry look at him. "There would be any number of people willing to testify that it's a miracle I'm finally _getting some_."

Gavin snorted. Finally, he shook his head and gave into the laughter that was bubbling inside. "I have been a bad influence on you." He folded his arms over his chest. "Give me their names, I'll call them as character witnesses."

Sharon chuckled. "It's too long a list, darling. Most of the LAPD to begin with." She turned back to the desk and sighed. "Alright, pity party is over. You know what to do?"

"Nail his ass to the wall?" Gavin rubbed his hands together and looked altogether too gleeful. "Back child support, replenishment of the 401K that you cashed out to pay for Emily to go to Juilliard, and… what the hell, let's throw in spousal support too. If he's working at Decker & Cline, he can afford it now."

Sharon snorted. "Not with his gambling habit, but yes." Her lips pursed, and then she smirked. "Why the hell not? Even if all we manage to do is scare him into a No Contest, then it's worth it. Jackson Raydor will think twice about ever coming at me through one of my children again."

"Speaking of…" Gavin had supplied the adoption papers too. "How is that going?"

Her teeth clenched and ground together. "Rusty is thinking about it. He didn't reject the idea outright, but he's not comfortable. He had questions, which… is good. Even a year ago he would have run from the idea, so… progress. I think the recent upset with his mother is weighing on his decision more than either of us would like." That had her riled again. Sharon went back to pacing. "That is a woman that I would very much like to get my hands on. She has him back to thinking he's a problem for me… that somehow he's been a burden. I swear, Gavin…"

"I'm not sure there's a judge in the land that would let you be convicted," He pointed out with a small smile. "Well, not as long as I was representing you anyway." When he winked and she smiled, it was worth it. "The boy adores you. In the end, he's already yours. He'll go for it. Don't worry. Rusty will be legally your son before he starts college in the fall."

"From your mouth," she mumbled. Sharon dropped into one of the plush chairs in front of his desk. She leaned her head back and sighed. "I don't want to go tell Andy about this," she waved the photo she still held.

"I'm not telling him." One thing could never be denied about Gavin Baker, and that was his sense of self preservation. "You made with the kissy-face, _you_ get to tell him." She lifted her head and glowered at him. "Ooh, that's one of your better ones, but no. Doesn't work on me. I helped you perfect that look. I'm sure you can find plenty of ways of calming him down again."

Her head tilted slightly while she thought about that. Sharon let her head fall back again and smiled. "Hmm."

It was Gavin's turn to roll his eyes. "Tramp."

Sharon snickered. "Well yes, that is what my husband is saying, isn't it?"

"Yes, and it has nothing to do with the fact that you haven't let _him_ touch you in fifteen years," Gavin drawled.

"Eight." She shrugged. "If I never touch another rum and coke again, it will be too soon." Sharon pushed herself out of her chair. "It's not going to get done with me hiding here all day." With a sigh, she began gathering the photos into the envelope they had been delivered to Gavin in.

"Indeed. I have actual appointments too, so as much as I'd like to spend all day with your delightful self," Gavin rounded his desk, intent on walking her to the door. "There are people coming who will actually pay me."

"Hm." She sniffed. "I thought you said rubbing Jack's nose in all of his past mistakes was payment enough?" Sharon smirked knowingly at him as they crossed the office.

"Yes, but that does not buy me new Ferragamos." Gavin opened the door and held it for her. "Shopping is important."

"It is indeed." She lifted her purse strap to her shoulder. "Saturday next?"

"Let's make it this one. I want to get us into court before then," Gavin smirked evilly. "We'll get you something that will have him so tied in knots, Jack won't know if he's meant to be winding or scratching."

"It's a date." She turned on her heel and sketched a wave over her shoulder. "See you!"

Gavin watched her walk away. Finally, he shook his head and stepped back into his office. He did not envy her the conversation that was coming. Or maybe he did. He thought about that for a moment. Tall, passionate, silver-haired fox. Yes, he envied her alright. With a sigh, Gavin decided to get back to work. Playtime was over.


	2. Chapter 2

Unwritten - Chapter 2

by Kadi  
Rated: M

* * *

"Dammit!" Andy practically heard the sound of skin singeing as the top of his wrist came into contact with the oven rack. He had jerked in response to the sound of someone knocking at his front door. It really was not shaping up to be a very good day. "Yeah, I heard you," he shouted when they knocked again. "Just a minute." He walked to the sink and ran cold water over it.

His day had gone straight to hell, almost from the beginning. It was his turn to get breakfast, so he had taken Provenza to a cafe they liked, near the old Parker Center building. As he expected would happen eventually, he endured a lecture from his partner all the way to breakfast, through their meal, and on the way to the headquarters. The subject was, as usual, his _relationship _with Sharon. Provenza was no longer buying the _just friends_ line.

"Even we don't go out to dinner that often," his partner had groused.

Yes, Andy supposed that was true and with very good reason. He didn't think he could stand to be around his partner _that_ much. Not that he could really voice that. Oh no, not without admitting just how often they were going out these days, which would have started the lecture anew.

Provenza's standard argument of _She__'__s married_ was no longer working, for obvious reasons. He didn't bother with it. Instead, he focused on the fact that she was _the Captain_, and it was a disaster in the making. Andy rolled his eyes and bore it, in so much as he could. That meant he waited at least ten minutes before going off himself.

"_I don__'__t know why you can__'__t just accept the fact that we__'__re friends. What, are you jealous or something_?"

That might not have been the thing to say. "_You don__'__t look at your friends like that_," his partner had argued. "_What__'__s more, your friends don__'__t look at _you_ like that. Don__'__t be a fool!_" Then he followed with the old stand by, "_You__'__ve never been _just friends_ with a woman in your life_."

"Dammit." Andy swore again as he drew his wrist from beneath the water and reached for a clean towel to pat it dry. It would be nice if people would just mind their own business. He made his way to the front door of the small bungalow. He pulled it open and felt his brows climbing into his hairline. "Hey."

Leaning against the porch rail on his small front stoop was Sharon. Her head was inclined and she wore a slightly amused expression. Her eyes sparkled at him in the fading light of day. As the door opened, she stood and dusted off the seat of her jeans. "Bad day?" From his hooded expression and the storm brewing in his dark eyes, even if it faded upon seeing her, she could read that he was not in a particularly great mood.

"You have no idea." Andy pushed the door wider and stood to the side, an open invitation for her to join him. The kiss he greeted her with was light, almost chaste. "Getting better now, though." Her smile went right through him, burned hotter than the sight of her in jeans and a form-fitting blouse. He supposed that was part of his mood. Sharon had left after lunch for an appointment had had not returned. That had given his partner free reign to start in on him again.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Sharon grimaced. She didn't exactly come bearing great news. She noticed he was favoring his wrist as he closed the door. Her brows drew together. "What did you do?"

"Oh, this, nothing." Andy shrugged off her concern and walked back toward his kitchen, knowing she would follow. "Some crazy broad kept knocking at the door instead of coming inside, like she's been instructed to do a thousand times. Burned it on the oven."

"I find it endlessly amusing that you always manage to blame your kitchen mishaps on me." Sharon dropped her purse on the bar and reached for his hand. "Let me see it."

"What am I? Ten?" He pointed her at one of the tall kitchen barstools. "Sit. This I can handle." He took a small first aid kit out of a cabinet before joining her at the bar. "So what's up?" They hadn't had any plans, not that he was going to complain about a spontaneous visit.

She watched him, the clean and meticulous movements he made as he quickly treated the small burn. Sharon sighed. Her visit had a purpose, she supposed it was better to get it over with. "I met with Gavin this afternoon. Jack is not cooperating." She reached into her purse for the envelope and slid it toward him. "He's had me followed. One of the PIs employed by his firm, no doubt."

"You're kidding," Andy drawled. His brows drew together in a scowl as he opened the envelope and let the contents slide out onto the bar. The first picture had him hissing. "Son of a bitch." She had his jacket around her shoulders, and was leaning against the side of his car while he said _Goodnight_.

"Oh, that's not even my favorite." She reached over and slid several photos aside until she revealed the one taken on her balcony. She tapped it. "I'm a fan of that one, but… where is it." She kept sliding pictures aside until she found it. "Ah! Yes, there it is. At least he got my good side." It was her parking garage. They stood beside her car, her head was drawn back, his lips were at her neck. They might have gotten a little carried away that night. It was the first time she invited him up. He turned her down. They weren't ready. That might have been the night she moved beyond attraction and into the realm of falling for him. He knew her entirely too well. The next time they'd ended up at his place instead. There had been no hesitation that time.

Andy reached for it. His other hand slammed down on the counter hard enough to make her jump, even as he turned away. "Now can I knock the hell out of that bastard?"

Her lips pursed. "It's tempting. If you could do it without being caught." Her eyes glittered at him. "Actually, I was rather enjoying the idea of taking a beanbag gun to certain parts of his anatomy." She leaned forward and propped her chin in her hand. "It's given me a few giggles."

He stared at her for a moment and while much of his sudden temper dissipated, the frustration remained. She felt it too, he knew, and with more and better reasons. Andy shook his head and walked back over to lean against the counter opposite her. "I imagine that it would. You have a creatively devious mind. I almost feel sorry for the asshole." He smirked. "Almost."

She chuckled. "Creatively devious hm?" Sharon reached for his wrist and drew it toward her. Her thumb swept over the bandaid he'd covered the burn with. "Was it terribly painful?"

"I thought I might die," he deadpanned.

She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and hummed again. She lifted his wrist and pressed a light kiss to the small wound. "Better?"

"Not quite." Andy leaned across the bar and took a moment to watch the corners of her mouth twitch toward a smile right before his lips brushed hers. "Now it is." His fingers slid along her jaw and into the thick curtain of her hair. His thumb stroked the familiar curve of her cheek. "Are you okay?"

"What is okay?" She smiled sadly at him and shrugged. "It will get better. This had to happen, I just—"

"He brought Rusty into it," Andy finished for her. "Yeah, I know." He wanted to deck the bastard for a lot of things, but the hurt in her eyes when she thought about what Jack had done to Rusty this time… Maybe it was a good thing they were keeping his temper more or less leashed. Once he started, Andy didn't know that he'd be able to stop. The nature of her marriage was complicated. He never questioned her on it. It was over, he knew, and he was confident she'd take the final step toward divorce sooner or later. Jack using Rusty as a weapon, as a means to hurt her, they hadn't counted on that. He was a pathetic bastard, they hadn't imagined he was a cruel, pathetic bastard. Andy jerked his head toward the photos on the bar beside them. "This a problem?"

"Hm, no. Gavin is handling it." She turned her face into his palm. Her lips were soft against the heel of his hand. "He's been unleashed." When she looked up at him, through her lashes, her eyes were gleaming. "Gavin is going to take care of Jack. That part is well in hand. The rest…" Sharon sighed. She shook her head and stood up. She walked around the end of the counter and into the kitchen to join him. "The rest is complicated." She leaned against the counter beside him. "It means telling Rusty about this, and potentially others finding out as well.."

"Oh good." Andy snorted. "Because I got to tell you, lady, I'm running out of reasons to _not_ shoot my partner." He knew what she wanted, she was so easy to read, and even easier to please. His arm snaked out, and his hand slid across her side to curl around her back. He drew her toward him, into the loose circle of his arms. "He's fairly sure he knows what's going on, and he has an opinion about it."

Sharon chuckled. "Of course he does. He wouldn't be Provenza if he didn't have an opinion that he was making sure was heard." Like her, he had changed after work, her hand slid up the soft material of his battered Dodgers t-shirt. She smoothed out imaginary wrinkles. "Well, I already reported us to the people that matter."

"Of course you did." He smirked. "Ever met a rule that you didn't obey?" He watched the gold flecks in her moss green eyes light up with amusement. His hands settled in the groove of her back, fingers toying with the waist of her jeans. "Even just one?"

"Let me think…" Her head tilted while she considered. Sharon leaned in to him. "I can think of a rule or two I'm breaking right now. Now that I think about it, I can think of a lot of rules I've been breaking recently…" Her voice dropped an octave. She rocked up onto the balls of her feet, let her lips brush the point of his chin. "I've been a very bad wi—"

"Shh." His hands came up to cup the back of her head. "As far as I'm concerned," he rumbled, head lowering, mouth moving over hers, "you've been very, very good." He teased her lips open, drew her bottom lip between both of his.

She melted against him, while humming quietly into his mouth. Her arms slid around him, and her hands moved up his back, beneath the t-shirt. She wasn't giving this up. Sharon made that decision before ever reaching out to Jack with his two options. She had forgotten just how _good_ it felt to be held, never mind Andy's ability to turn her into a wanton mass of need. Never mind that she was certain she was more than half in love with him already. As the kiss broke, she buried her face in his neck and inhaled deeply. She loved the scent of his aftershave, and the way it mingled with his cologne, both clinging to his skin without overpowering. "I've needed that all day," she murmured.

"Good." His hand slid down her back, the other remained in her hair. "Been wanting to do that all day," he rumbled quietly. There was an undercurrent in her tone, hardly noticeable at all. If she was a little more clingy than usual, he didn't let on that he noticed. Holding her was no hardship.

She lay her head against his shoulder and stood in the circle of his arms. There was a certain warmth, a sense of security that came from simply being held. Especially when the arms belonged to someone she knew that she could trust. Trust, a precious commodity that had been missing from her life for entirely too long. After another moment, she leaned back and smiled up at him. "What were you making?"

"Egg plant parm," a grin curved crookedly at his mouth. "Hungry?" He tugged at her belt loops, while his eyes danced playfully.

"Hm." She shrugged. "Maybe in a little while." Her head tilted, her lashes fluttered. "You?"

He thought about it, or made a good show of thinking about it. "Maybe in a little while…" Andy took her hand, and tugged her along with him as he made a circle of the kitchen, making sure the parm was covered and the oven off. The low chuckle that rumbled in her throat as she followed had a grin playing at his mouth. He pulled her along as they left the kitchen and made their way down the hall. Inside the bedroom, he hoisted her up and kicked the door closed behind him. "So, uh, wanna do a little _stuff_ before dinner?"

She was laughing as they tumbled onto the bed, the trouble with Jack forgotten. She cherished these moments together. It was more than just sex, he made her laugh. She trusted him. He cared about _her_. When they said they were friends, it wasn't a lie. When they said that they weren't dating, it wasn't just to mislead. They had moved well beyond that. She wouldn't call it an affair either, that would diminish it. Partners? Perhaps, but he already had a partner. The fact remained that he could read her like no one else, he knew what she wanted before the thought was ever fully formed or voiced.

A look, a sigh, the way she tilted her head at him. He knew what she wanted, and more importantly, what she needed. That was no less true of their physical relationship. It wasn't entirely innate. They'd had some fun figuring out a few things. The evening was easily predicted with how they responded to one another. When he drew her arms over her head and pinned them, and she hooked her legs behind his thighs, drawing a low, rumbling growl to match her throaty chuckle, they both knew that it was going to be a long, playful evening. They weren't kids anymore. They'd learned the art of patience. Tonight, it was a virtue they were going to attempt to destroy.

It was sometime before they saw the kitchen again. Eggplant parmesan was iffy when reheated, but by that point they were famished enough that it no longer mattered. They each took a plate into the living room, along with chilled bottles of sparkling water. They hadn't bothered dressing much beyond Andy sliding back into his jeans while Sharon _borrowed _his t-shirt. He didn't mind, especially with the shapely length of her bare legs draped across his lap while they sat on his sofa eating a reheated dinner.

Andy was taking a bite that was heated a little too well when a knock sounded at the door. He swallowed, eyes watering as it burned all the way back. "What the hell!" He shot a dark glare at his door. It wasn't so much a knock as a pounding.

Sharon was trying not to giggle, even as she scrambled up and tugged the hem of the t-shirt down. "You really aren't having a good day, are you?" In spite of the situation, she was snickering.

"What are you laughing about?" Andy glared at her. "Your car is parked in front, beside mine. If that's who I think it is, you're already screwed honey." He caught her wrist before she could make her escape down the hallway. "Who is it?" He called out, for good measure. There was a very remote possibility it could be Rusty. _Very_ remote.

"The easter bunny," his partner called back, and pounded on the door again. "If you're _girlfriend_ is trying to sneak out the back, it's too late. I'm parked behind her." There was a pause. "By all means, _do_ get dressed first."

It really was too much to hope for a nosy neighbor. Sharon grabbed Andy and he made to get the door. "Do _not_," she hissed. Her heels drug against the carpet, and she was reminded that without her shoes, she was rather a bit smaller than he was.

"What? I'm going to leave him standing out there all night?" Andy looked down at her, brows lifted incredulously. "There's no way you're getting out of here without being seen."

"Maybe he'll leave." She didn't exactly believe that, but somehow it seemed better than actually opening the door and facing his partner, who now had a pretty good idea that they weren't just _friends_.

Andy snorted a laugh. "You're kidding right? Sharon, he has a key." He smirked down at her, unable to help himself. She was really cute when she was flustered. "You're kind of adorable right now, you know that don't you?"

She stood back from him, eyes widening. Sharon swept her hair back and drew herself up to her full five-foot and six-inch height. "I am _not_ adorable." Her eyes narrowed. She pointed a finger at him. "You know that thing, the one that happened earlier, oh yeah, kiss that goodbye." She turned on her heel and began marching toward the bedroom. "I cannot believe this is happening," she muttered. "He's your partner, get rid of him."

"He's your second in command," he shot back. Andy ran a hand over his hair and walked to the door. He gave Sharon time to get down the hall before he pulled it open. "I hope that you realize that you have the worst timing on the planet," he groused, and tossed in a scowl for good measure.

Provenza took one look at him. Shirtless, jeans hastily fastened, hair a mess. "You're an idiot." He pushed his way into the house. "You're both idiots," he decided, raising his voice to be heard. He took in the state of the outer rooms, the only thing out of place was their dinner. "You're an idiot with a problem," he pointed a finger at his partner. "I told you _not _to go there. I warned you that it would blow up in your face. Did you listen? Of course not. Worse, you lied to me! You looked me right in the eye and told me that you were just friends!"

Andy rolled his eyes. "We are friends." He picked up their dishes and carried them into the kitchen. "Considering how often you've been divorced, I can understand where that concept would be foreign to you."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved a hand at him. "Go tell her highness to hurry it up, I don't have all night. And for gods sake, man, put on a shirt. No one wants to see _that_."

Feeling his patience nearing its end, Andy pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah? I wouldn't be so sure about that." He headed for the hall. "You showed up _uninvited_ and _we_ have to hurry. I could have sworn this was my house."

"Don't get melodramatic on me now." Provenza made his way into the kitchen and poked around in the fridge until he found something to drink. Then he checked out the stove. "You cooked. Not dating my foot," he grumbled. Then he set about fixing himself a plate. If he had to deal with the pair of lovesick fools, he was going to get a free meal out of it.

In his bedroom, Andy found Sharon wriggling back into her jeans. He took a moment to admire that before he sighed. "Well, the good news is, I can still sneak you out the back. The bad news is, you're not getting your car out. I looked, he blocked you in good."

"Of course he did." Sharon slipped into her blouse and buttoned it quickly. She tossed the t-shirt at him. "What does he want?"

"To yell at us?" Andy shrugged. "How the hell should I know? I try not to get into his head too often. Scary place, in case you hadn't noticed." He pulled the t-shirt over his head and smoothed his hair back down.

She sat on the edge of his bed and tugged her boots back on. "You pointed out his lousy timing?" When that task was done, she stood up and walked to the mirror over his bureau. Very quickly she combed her fingers through her hair and smoothed out the smudged makeup beneath her eyes. When she was as decent as she was going to get, she turned back to him. She still looked rather tousled. There was nothing to be done for it, however.

"Oh yeah." Andy sighed, a bit mournfully. "I had absolutely no intention of you getting dressed tonight. Can I shoot him?"

"I don't see why not." She shook her hair back with a smile. "We're equal opportunity bean-baggers."

"Oh, good. I thought this night was going to be a complete bust." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Ready?"

"No." She pouted at him. "I did say we'd have to go public, didn't I?"

"You did." He smirked. "We should really be careful what we wish for."

Sharon snorted. "Indeed." She nodded. "Let's do this. The sooner we're done with it, the better."

As she walked past him, Andy caught her arm and drew her to him. He dropped a kiss to her mouth. He let it linger, just for a moment. "Relax, it's just Provenza."

Sharon drew back and made a face at him. "_Just_ Provenza?" She reached up to feel of the back of his head. "When we rolled off the bed, I thought you said you didn't hit it on anything."

"Funny." He pushed her out of the room ahead of him and gave her bottom a playful swat. "You're real cute, Sharon. A damned comedian, now I know where the kid gets it from."

"I am genuinely concerned!" She giggled as she was prodded down the hall. The urge to dig in her heels was a strong one, but she straightened, lifted her chin and shook her hair back again. She strode into the living room, where her lover's partner was now seated and enjoying his dinner. "Lieutenant."

He was seated in the large armchair at the end of the coffee table, bent over the stack of photos he found on the bar. He picked up the stack and waved them at her. "Actually, this is why I came over here tonight. You weren't answering your phone." He rolled is eyes at them. "I don't want to hear the excuses, whatever. Anyway, Julio saw something earlier today that made him think you were being followed. We were worried we might have another Stroh Trial incident on our hands, so I had him check it out. Turns out, he's a PI on retainer for the law firm your _loving_ soon to be _ex-husband _is currently working for. I had Julio put the fear of Sanchez into him, and he bugged off for now, but I thought maybe you should know." He dropped the photos back onto the table and tapped them with his finger. "Looks like you already do."

Andy leaned against the back of the couch, arms braced against it's top. "How did you know she was _here_?" He asked, genuinely curious about that.

Provenza scowled at them. "Julio followed the PI, who was following the Captain. She parked outside, came inside. Didn't leave. Do you want me to spell it out for you," he groused.

"Oh god." Sharon covered her face with her hands. Now that was two of them that knew. Julio would have seen that greeting she got at the door.

Andy heaved a sigh. He shook his head, then glanced at Sharon. "I'm telling you, I've picked up a few things. The body would never be found. It'll save you the headache of having to get a divorce."

Two sets of eyes glared at him. "Not funny," they both stated.

"Okay, that is freaking me out." Andy backed away from them and walked around to drop onto the sofa. He picked up his discarded water bottle and took a drink. "What do you want to do?" He asked her.

It was Sharon's turn to sigh. She joined him on the sofa. "It's too late to do anything about it now. The pictures are out there, Jack is going to use them. Gavin will shut him down, of that I have no doubt. He's not going to get even remotely near what he wants, and in the end, he'll tuck tail and try to save face. The divorce isn't the issue." She leaned back on the sofa beside him, their shoulders brushing, and crossed her legs. "Neither is this," she informed his partner. "It's been reported. It's really a non-issue."

"I still think it's a mistake," Provenza stated plainly, meeting her gaze. "But it isn't my mistake to make. These things do not end well. I suppose you've thought of that?"

They were really going to have the conversation. Her lips pursed. "I did." Instead of being indignant, she took the higher road. She smiled at him. "Unlike you, Lieutenant, I do not intend to die with a stapler in my hand. There is going to come a day when I am going to choose to retire, for real this time," she added with a smirk, recalling how that news had so delighted him when she intentionally leaked it a few years before. "I'd like to have a little something resembling a life when that happens, and if _this_ happens to be it," she stated, gesturing at Andy, "then so be it. If not, well, at least I can say that I tried." Sharon tilted her head at him. "My issue isn't in others knowing, it was eventually going to be shared, these things do not remain secret for long, despite our best efforts. No, it's that now I need to tell Rusty, after quite thoroughly allowing him to believe that I am _not _dating." She hadn't wanted to mislead him, and she felt badly for it, but at the time it was more important to find out what Jack was up to than to get into the whole _dating_ conversation. Although he'd seemed… okay with the thought. He was well prepared to tease her about it. Sharon supposed she could endure a bit of that as her penance from Rusty. Let him have his fun, he deserved it.

Andy nudged her. "I think he'll be alright. He's a smart kid, he'll understand. Especially after the other bombshell that Jack dropped on him."

She smiled a bit sadly. "I really hope so."

Provenza's brows drew together. "What other bombshell," he asked carefully, eyes darkening. What had Jack done to Rusty and why was he only now hearing about it?

Sharon and Andy exchanged a look before she turned her attention back on the Lieutenant. "My own stupidity," she said with a small amount of wry humor. "I very naively believed that for once in his pitiful existence, Jack might choose to be a decent human being." If her own bitterness managed to leak into her tone, she pretended to ignore it. "I contacted Jack because as long as we're actually married I needed him to sign Rusty's adoption papers. I knew that he would probably be an ass about it. So I had Gavin work up the divorce papers too…" She gestured with her hands as she spoke, "ultimatums typically work with Jack, especially the kind that threaten his own immature sense of stability. Instead, he chose to draw Rusty into his return volley. I had no intention of Rusty knowing about the adoption or the divorce, until I had both situations well in hand, and… Jack had other plans."

"When does he not." Provenza shook his head. "That absolute bastard. Of all the stunts he's pulled over the years, the absolute piles of bullshit that man has handed out…"

"Yes," Sharon sighed again. "Now I find out that he's had me followed for weeks. He knew what was coming before I even put the options on the table for him. He drew Rusty into this with every intention of using him to get at me. _That_ I simply cannot allow. It's being handled." She drew another breath but let this one out slowly. "There is still a conversation to be had with Rusty. Then my older children, and then we will see," she shrugged.

Because he was in his own home, Andy gave no thought to sliding his hand beneath her hair and laying it against the back of her neck. His fingers were gentle as they worked out the tension there. "Rusty will be okay," he told her. "He usually is. The kid bounces back. This will be nothing."

When he tugged her toward him, she went, and sank into the crook of his arm. Her hand landed against the top of his knee and she smiled warmly at him, for trying. Again she was reminded of the fact that she was, indeed, more than half in love with him. "I'm sure you're right," was all that she said.

"Oh gods," Provenza rolled his eyes at them. "Save me from twitterpated fools in love."

The pair of them looked at one another, brows lifted in askance. "_Twitterpated?_" They both mouthed.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." He leaned back in his chair and continued to scowl at them. "Nothing but trouble," he waved a hand at them. "Mark my words, this is going to be _nothing_ but _trouble_."

Sharon cut her eyes at Andy and shook her head. "He's _your _partner," she muttered.

"Sure, he's always _mine_ when he's being a pain in _your_ ass. Yet somehow, you have no problem claiming him when he's giving _me_ a hard time." He sniffed at her, and shook his head in feigned frustration. "We should really discuss this."

She pretended to think about it. Her lips pursed, finally she shook her head. "No, no I think I like it as it is now. It's working for me."

Her eyes were glittering up at him, full of amusement, while the corners of her mouth twitched. When she pressed them together, he knew she was fighting the urge to smile. Andy's eyes narrowed. "You're driving me crazy, you know that right?" He dropped a kiss to her mouth anyway.

"Do you _have_ to do that here?" Provenza threw his hands up in disgust. His entire body shuddered. "I'm eating."

Andy arched a brow at him. "It's my house," he said dryly.

"Like that matters," his partner shot back at him. "It's about simple courtesy. No one wants to see," he gestured at them with his hand, "_that_."

Andy chewed on the corner of his mouth, and wished he had a toothpick. "Yeah, so go home. You kinda interrupted something. I was a little busy, you know."

"_Andy_." Sharon dug her elbow into his side. She glared at him and slowly shook her head. "More snark, less crass."

"Ah," he nodded. "I thought it sounded a little off."

"Do better." She smirked at him. Her attention shifted back to his partner. "I do need you to move your car. I should get back to Rusty."

"Yeah no problem," Provenza was all for that. He stood up and headed toward the door. "You stay put," he pointed a finger at his partner and shook it. "I'm not done with you yet."

"I cannot tell you just how much that thrills me," Andy drawled with a straight face.

Sharon snickered quietly. While his partner was moving his car, she gathered her purse, and the copies of the photographs she brought. Sharon tucked the envelope back into her purse before turning back to Andy as he walked her to the door. "I'll see you in the morning. Try not to hurt him… too badly," she added with a smile.

"I'm not making any promises." He pulled into a loose embrace and caught her mouth in a soft, lingering kiss.

"Oh god, really?" Provenza was stepping back through the door. "Is this what I have to look forward to?"

Andy sighed. "I'll pick you up for breakfast," he told her, choosing to ignore his partner for the moment.

"I'll look forward to it." She stepped away from him, and found the Lieutenant scowling at them. Sharon sighed. "Okay, I'm going." She moved past him through the door, but stopped just outside and turned to point a finger at the _both_ of them. "Behave."

The two men looked at each other, then they shrugged at her. "What could happen?"

Sharon groaned as she turned. "Oh god. It's like leaving five year olds unsupervised…"

Andy chuckled as she left. He waited until she got into her car before pushing the door closed. Then he turned and fixed his partner with a dark scowl. "Really?"

"At your age, you should be thanking me." He leaned back in his chair, plate in hand, and put his feet on the coffee table. "So, how are things?"

"It's a miracle I haven't shot you yet." Andy shook his head and walked toward the kitchen, intent on cleaning up.

"Well, since you wouldn't listen to common sense," Provenza stated, "someone has to keep you from screwing it up."

"Right," Andy snorted. "I'm going to take advice from the guy who has his divorce lawyer on speed dial. No thanks, pal."

"We'll see." Provenza inclined his head. "I just have one question." He squinted at his partner. "Do you call her in the morning and figure out what colors you'll be wearing?"

His head fell back. Andy looked skyward and prayed for patience. "I'm never going to hear the end of it now…"


	3. Chapter 3

Unwritten - Chapter 3

by Kadi  
Rated: M

**Content Warning:** Rating applies to this chapter.

* * *

Rusty looked up from his spot on the sofa when the door opened. He paused in tapping his pencil against his text book and glanced at his cell phone for the time. "Hey. I thought you said you'd be later?"

"My plans got changed." Sharon dropped her keys into the tray on the table by the door and hung her purse in its usual spot. She smiled warmly at him as she approached the sofa. "Did you eat?"

"I did." A crooked grin lit his face. "I ordered Chinese, there's some left if you're interested."

"No, I at least managed dinner." She walked over to the sofa and sat. She tugged off her boots before curling her legs beneath her. "I'm afraid you'll have to cancel whatever wild plans you had for the night."

"Yes, because I throw a lot of parties when you're not around," he smirked at her. Rusty leaned back and watched her for a moment. She seemed to have something on her mind. That usually meant she wanted to talk, but didn't necessarily want to upset him, or know how to bring up whatever was bouncing around her head. "Is something going on," he asked.

"Hm." She shrugged. "I guess you could say that." She was curled in the corner of the sofa, and propped her elbow against the back before letting her chin fall into her hand. "Jack is proving to be less cooperative than I would like. I found out today that he's had one of the investigators at his firm follow me around. Apparently he's had this man watching me for a while now. A few weeks at least. Jack knew, before either of us saw him the other day, that I was making some changes in my life. He chose to be a despicable human being. For that I apologize."

Rusty frowned at her. "You can't really apologize for other people, Sharon. I'm pretty sure that's not how it works, and it was Jack that was being a jerk. Not you." Rusty shrugged. "He told me something that he shouldn't, and it wasn't about me, I already figured that out. It's not your fault."

"No, it isn't," she smiled warmly at him. "What is my fault is that I chose to mislead you about something Jack said." Sharon sighed. "When Jack feels threatened he strikes out, usually at me. His first volley was in trying to upset you, maybe to shake up what we have going on around here these days. If the reason for his upset is gone, then Jack decides that there's no longer a problem." She looked away, just for a moment, lost in memories. "Having a wife and children was upsetting his fun, we were in the way of all the grand times he was having in the casinos and at poker tournaments. So Jack left. He separated himself from what he perceived to be the problem. He's doing that again, only this time, he's trying to upset _you_ into leaving."

"Well that's just…stupid." Rusty decided with a scowl. "Has he not met you? Like you're going to let me go anywhere, even if I wanted to, which I don't," he was quick to add.

"Rusty!" Sharon looked at him, wide-eyed. "I would never make you stay against your will." She leaned forward and touched his arm. "This is your home, not your prison."

"I know that." He smirked at her. "I was just trying to make a point, and obviously not a very good one. Relax, Sharon."

"You say that now," she made a face at him. She sighed. "Jack thinks that I'm dating someone. He's had me followed, so he had very good reason to believe that. I wasn't expecting that Jack would have the audacity to approach you, so I was a little surprised that he had. That's still no excuse for lying to you about it."

Rusty rolled his eyes at her. "Really?" He laughed. "Is this about you and Lieutenant Flynn? Because I've kind of known for a while now." He grinned at her, just a little crookedly. He had been hoping to be able to tease her about it, now that Jack had given him the opening. "You know, it's sort of obvious when you go to dinner and come home for breakfast. But extra points for trying to make it less obvious. Oh, and the Lieutenant isn't as quiet as you'd like him to be when you're sneaking him out at five in the morning."

"Oh god." She moaned quietly and covered her face with her hands, even as it flushed a light shade of pink. This was simply not something that she had to worry about when her older children were still at home. "Rusty, I am sor—"

"For what?" He laughed again. "Not telling me something that was none of my business to begin with?" Rusty shook his head at her. "It's really okay, Sharon. I was kind of expecting it would happen anyway. You two are kind of obvious."

"No," she said at length, face still a light shade of pink. "We are not. Are we?" Her eyes widened at his nod. "Oh god." Sharon ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Okay, it's not a problem. We'll work on that."

Rusty snorted and then started to laugh again. "Okay, I take it back. Jack didn't completely ruin it, this is just as fun as I thought it would be." He smirked deviously at her. "So, I take it since Lieutenant Provenza called the house phone earlier, that it wasn't so much that your plans changed as it was that they got _interrupted_?"

Her eyes narrowed. Sharon made a face at him. "Get it out of your system now, Rusty. I'll only let you go so far."

"Yeah, I know," he was still gleeful. "I'm sorry your night got screwed up," he added, much more sincerity in his tone. "So, what do your other kids say about all this? You know, dating, divorce, the wild woman you've turned into lately." His eyes sparkled, and he held up a hand to indicate he was done now, he'd gotten the mileage out of it that he wanted.

She rolled her eyes at him but propped her chin in her hand and pondered his answer anyway. "They don't know that I'm dating, although I'm sure their father will make it a point to tell them. I've discussed the divorce with them, but it really wasn't much of a surprise. It's something they've both expected for most of their lives. Jack left when they were both very young, and then he was in and out of our lives over the years. More out than in, as you've witnessed. They don't know any differently. Any memories they have of what life was like before Jack left are vague at best. I suppose," she said a bit sadly, "you could say that it wasn't really news to them."

Rusty placed his books on the coffee table in front of them and turned sideways on the sofa, almost mimicking her posture. "Aren't you a little worried that they might have a problem with _all _of it? I mean, they're going to kind of get hit with a lot at one time. Divorced, dating, adoption. It's a lot. Even by your standards."

"Hm." She smiled. "Yes, I used to live such a quiet, boring life." Sharon shook her head. "You know, you've got a point. It is a lot, and it's unfortunate that they're going to have to deal with it at one time. It's unfortunate that you've had to deal with all of it at one time, and precisely why I planned to do things in a specific order. I was already planning on getting the divorce," she admitted, "obviously, but I was sort of hoping that the adoption news would go a lot more smoothly than it has, and we'd have things worked out there first. I'm sorry that you found out like that, and that it's been a bit much."

"You really don't have anything to be sorry about," he reminded her. "I get it, it's just… something you do, Sharon. All the facts first," said with a smile. "So," he drew the syllable out. "This dating thing, must be getting kind of serious."

"We're not discussing it." She stood up and gathered her boots. "Some topics are definitely _not_ open for discussion or debate."

"Hey, you brought it up," Rusty watched her round the sofa and head toward the hall, pausing only to retrieve her purse. "I mean, it has to be serious right, you're sneaking him out at ungodly hours of the morning. Oh god, that means you're sneaking him _in_ at ungodly hours of the morning. Sharon, I never took you for the—"

"Good _night, _Rusty." She stopped and shot a pointed look at him, indicating he was getting close to crossing a line.

He flashed a wide grin. "Good night, Sharon." His eyes were still gleaming with mischief but he chose to keep his mouth shut. Then a thought occurred and he almost giggled. He'd get Lieutenant Provenza to do it. _He_ couldn't get grounded for excessive teasing. Rusty turned back to his homework with a renewed sense of purpose. There was still plenty of mileage to be gotten out of the _dating thing_.

Sharon didn't know what she had expected. Rusty teasing her about it was more a relief than a bother. She was worried he would be upset by all the sudden changes happening around him. She retreated to her room and began undressing. Her phone buzzed while she was waiting for the shower to heat. Sharon found a text message waiting for her. Andy, of course.

"_The kid okay?__"_

"_He__'__s better than_," she sent back to him. "_He already knew. You__'__re too loud when I__'__m sneaking you out.__"_

"_Oops. There__'__s a cure for that,__" _Andy replied. "_No more sneaking around_."

Sharon chuckled quietly. She checked the water in the shower, steam was filling the bathroom. Then she returned to her room to finish undressing. "_Or you learn to be quiet._"

"_Cute._" Andy sent back. "_Speaking of quiet and those who can__'__t be. My partner. Let__'__s screw with him. What color are you wearing tomorrow?_"

Sharon snorted and laughed. She tossed her phone onto her bed and shook her head as she walked back to the shower. "That man," she muttered. It really was rather a good thing that she adored him, sense of humor and all.

She did not answer his last text. It was always best, in her opinion, not to get between those two men when they were up to frustrating the other however and whenever possible. She would let Flynn and Provenza _be_ Flynn and Provenza while keeping an eye on their antics to ensure they didn't go _too_ far. In the meantime, she decided to make it an early night. The only downside to that, was that at her age, an early night meant an equally early morning.

Sharon was not surprised to find Rusty already awake when she stepped into the kitchen. He was spending time with Buzz before work a few days a week. That reminded her that she did truly need to get Buzz something to show their appreciation. She couldn't promise him time off, the nature of their jobs didn't always allow that, but they owed him. He was spending precious personal hours tutoring Rusty, and although he was resistant at first, the two were now very close. Sharon knew that Buzz didn't begrudge the time, and wouldn't offer if it bothered him, but it was greatly appreciated. She made a mental note to think on that, and quickly pushed all other thoughts aside in her surprise at finding Rusty was not alone.

Andy stood on the kitchen side of the breakfast bar, a cup of coffee in hand while Rusty was seated there, quickly working his way through a bowl of cereal. She was suddenly very glad that she had decided to go ahead and dress for work. "Good morning," she said, just a bit carefully. Sharon made her way to the coffee maker, but kept an eye on them. "Whatever it is you're plotting, I am reasonably sure that I'm not going to like it." She filled her cup and then leaned back against the counter, eyes narrowed as she studied them.

Rusty quickly swallowed what was in his mouth and pointed at Flynn. "It was all him. I'm just trying to eat my corn flakes."

Andy almost singed the roof of his mouth, but managed to avoid getting burned. He lowered his coffee cup and shot a glare at the teenager. It lacked any true heat. "Really? You didn't even try, you just bailed right out? Did we teach you nothin' kid?"

He snorted. "Plenty. It's every man for himself when she's got _that_ look on her face."

"Yeah?" Andy slanted a look at her and nodded. "I see. Nice maneuvering, we'll work on being more subtle. Distract and flee, kid. More evade, less tactical."

Sharon looked skyward for a moment and then finally allowed her gaze to drop. Her brow arched at him. "This is what you are teaching him?"

Her tone dipped, just enough that Andy knew to tread carefully, but also that she was toying with him. "There are some life lessons that just can't be skipped," he replied with a small smile. "You wanted him to have positive role models. Provenza and I are positively sure that he needs to learn Evasive Maneuvering of Darth Raydor 101."

"Hm." She lifted her cup to her mouth again while pondering that. "I see," she said a few moments later. "The two of you honestly believe you're the experts in that subject?"

Andy shrugged. "Sure, I wrote the book on the subject." He glanced at Rusty. "I have got a box of certificates from all the continuing education classes she has sent me to over the years. But…" He pointed his cup at the boy. "I was never written up."

"I can see you're very proud of that." Rusty took his bowl and carried it, quickly, to the sink. "For the record, I wouldn't admit it in front of her." He headed into the living room to retrieve his bag. "I have to meet Buzz, I'll see you guys later. Uh… I was going to tell you to behave, instead, I'll say nice knowing you Lieutenant." Rusty smirked as he left.

"Kid still thinks he's a comedian," Andy shook his head and then risked a glance at Sharon. Her eyes were still narrowed. "Oh come on, you took great pleasure in cultivating _that_ reputation, don't try to play sweet and innocent now, sweetheart."

"Hm." She hummed as she took another sip from her cup. "I suppose I did at that," her eyes sparkled. "Is it something you really feel the need to teach my teenager?"

"Oh yeah." Andy walked over slipped an arm around her. He placed his cup on the counter and then pulled her against him. This is new," his hands slid up the sides of her dress. Soft, clinging material in deep crimson. The wrap dress was form-fitting without being obscene. The cap sleeves meant she would inevitably abandon the black blazer he knew she would pair with it at some point during the day. His hands continued upward along her sides, over her ribcage. "I like it," he rumbled, a second before lowering his head to capture her mouth.

She curled an arm around his neck while the other felt blindly along the counter until she placed her coffee cup atop it. Sharon melted against him and ran her newly freed hand up his arm and across his shoulder until her fingers could toy with the short strands of silver hair that were neatly trimmed above his collar. When his tongue swept her bottom lip she hummed in approval and parted her lips for him. She had expected that initial thrill to fade. The passion of intense attraction always burned brightly in the beginning, and then it began to cool. That was not proving to be the case with Andy. The more time they spent together, the brighter it seemed to burn. Emotion mixed with passion, until one began to intensify the other. It was like a light, chasing shadows in the dark, burning away the chill of loneliness which had at one time filled her life.

Sharon grunted in surprise when she was lifted onto the counter behind her. His hand delved into her hair and he angled her head so that his lips could move across her jaw. She drew a ragged breath. The black pumps she was wearing slipped off her feet as she wound her legs around him. Her head fell back while his lips moved down the column of her neck. She could marvel that they were entirely too old to be carrying on like this, to be allowing themselves to get carried away as it were. Sharon leaned her head to one side and forced her eyes open. She glanced at her watch and groaned loudly. "We don't have time for this."

He was sliding a hand beneath her dress, letting his fingers dance along the smooth expanse of thigh. His mouth found the hollow of her throat, his tongue swept it, drawing another ragged moan from her. "Sure we do," he muttered.

"No," she said thickly, breathless in the wake of his roaming mouth and hands. "There is no way we'll be able to do _this_, shower, _and _get breakfast, and then still make it to work on time. I just don't see that happening. _Andy_," she keened quietly when his teeth scraped over her collar bone.

"Yeah, who needs to eat?" He looked up at her, eyes smoldering. Andy reached back and caught her left arm. He pulled it back around and looked at her watch. "Hm. Plenty of time." He pulled her down off the counter, let her slide slowly down his front. He turned her and walked her backward toward her room, while his hands worked on the side clasp of her wrap-dress.

Their mouths met again. "Do _not_ wrinkle me," she ordered, while already reaching for his belt.

"God," he groaned, "have I ever mentioned how much I love it when you're bossy." He opened her dress and slipped it, carefully, off her shoulders. As they passed the couch, he draped it across the back, beside the black blazer she left laying there earlier. "Happy?"

"Immensely." His jacket joined it. She tugged at his badge and his gun, both items she set on the table beside the sofa, where her purse waited, and went back to freeing him from his pants.

"_Sharon._" He groaned at the sight of her. Matching crimson, lace and silk beneath her dress had blood rushing south of his waist. "You went shopping with Gavin again, didn't you?"

"Hmm…" With his pants open, she tugged his shirt free and loosened his tie before she began working open each button. "I did," his tongue swept over her pulse point and she gasped. He shrugged out of the shirt and it joined his jacket, along with the tie.

She dodged his continued attempts to tease her neck and so his hands moved up her sides again. They settled against her ribcage and his thumbs swept the undersides of her breasts through the lace covered silk cups of her bra. "I think that I officially love that man," Andy decided.

A low, throaty chuckle was his answer. "You have no idea just how pleased he'll be." She tipped her head back as her hands moved into his pants. She watched his eyes darken as she slipped them down his thighs. It never failed to elicit a spark excitement for her to watch the edges of his control strain and threaten to snap, all of reflected in the dark, brown depths of his eyes. While he toed out of his shoes, she let her hand skirt the edge of the aroused flesh tenting his boxers. Their eyes remained locked while she helped him out of the pants. When they joined the rest of their clothes, carefully draped in a wrinkle free environment, she found herself drawn back against him.

He wound an arm around her waist and lifted, drawing her up and against him so that their mouths were on even territory when he captured it again. With her arms around his neck, and her feet barely brushing the floor, he moved them down the hall to her bedroom. Once inside, he caught the door and flung it closed behind them. He set her back on her feet beside the bed. His hands swept up her back and caught the clasp of her bra. The clasp was easily dealt with and he followed the path of the strap down her left shoulder with his mouth. The bra was abandoned to the floor, and he backed her into the bed. Her knees buckled, but with his arm around her waist they sank slowly onto the mattress.

Andy knelt over her, he drew her hands over her head and folded them around the wooden slats of the headboard while his mouth trailed a path downward. His hands cupped her breasts, while lips and tongue bathed a path between. She arched beneath him, and her legs were drawn impatiently along his thighs and around his hips. He groaned when her hips rolled and she pressed against him. He would not be deterred, and despite her impatient grunt, his lips closed around a nipple while his hand palmed her other breast. He took her ragged moan as a sign of approval and braced himself against the mattress as he rolled the tight bud between his lips.

A ragged sigh was wrought from her lips. She turned her head to the side, arched beneath him. "_Andy_." His name was a plea and a warning all at once. Not that she didn't appreciate it, but they simply did not have time for the kind teasing he had in mind. Later, she promised herself, she would make it up to him.

He drew away from her breasts, with some reluctance, and a sigh. He swept his hands down her sides instead and caught the edge of the crimson silk and lace that still covered her. Andy leaned back and drew the material down her legs. It was tossed behind him, while he let his gaze wander back up the length of her body. She would probably never know just how beautiful she was to him. He told her, as often as he showed her, and she would still demure with color filling her cheeks. It was another reason to despise the bastard that was her husband. She had not been cherished nearly enough. She had not been _loved_ nearly enough.

Yes, he was in love with her. It was not the first time that thought had crossed his mind. He wasn't ready to give voice to that yet, and more importantly, he didn't think that _they_ were ready for him to give voice to that emotion. He knew that she was emotionally vested; she was a woman whose emotions ran deep, even if she had made a study in hiding them from the world. Alone, as they were now, with her gaze burning back at him, it was hard to imagine that he'd ever thought her cold. The way that emotion lit her eyes, filling them, making the green sparkle like emeralds. It was a little like looking into the sun. Warmth and light, but burning brightly in its radiance.

He moved over her when she reached for him. His head bent and her arms slid around his waist as their mouths met again. She pushed at his boxers and together they shoved them out of their way. His hands cupped the backs of her thighs. He drew her legs higher, tilted her toward him, and then sank slowly into her heat.

One hand gripped the back of his neck, while her other arm slid around his shoulders. She turned her face into his neck and drew a ragged breath as he filled her. The initial heat, the sensation of stretching around him, it never failed to steal her breath, just for a moment.

The walls of her body gripped him tightly, while her heat surrounded him. Once he sank completely home, they lay, still and trembling, while allowing their bodies to adjust to the new sensation. When she moved impatiently beneath him, he lifted his head. He braced himself against his elbows and cupped her face between his hands. He swept her hair back from her face, let his thumbs trace familiar contours of her cheeks. Then he lowered his head and drew slow, languid kisses from her lips as he started to move within her. It started slow, but with ever increasing tempo as need burned through them. It was wanton, all liquid fire and heat. Her hands once again found purchase around the wooden slats of the headboard as she rolled her hips to meet each deep, deliberate thrust. The lazy caress of their lips became open mouth kisses and nipping teeth, until his thrusts were no longer deliberate and her face turned into his neck, her moans muffled against his skin.

Andy curled an arm beneath her thigh, his pelvis tilted up, rolled and a ragged gasp was drawn from her at the sensation. He did it a second time and her hands moved to his shoulders, gripping tightly, nails scouring. She trembled beneath him, heat and arousal coiled at her center, burned through her, and then his hand was sliding between them. Something which might have been his name filled the deep, keening cry that passed her lips as his fingers found her, teased her. Her back arched, and with a strangled cry, her release swept through her, and the slick heat of her inner walls gripped him tightly in its wake, contracting wildly as she came apart beneath him. His hands moved to her hips, pressed her into the mattress beneath them and his rhythm was lost in the onslaught. Only a moment passed before he was joining her. Heat coiled and then broke, and he was left equally as spent, trembling where he lay atop her.

Another minute passed before he lifted his head, shifted his weight off of her and gazed down at her flushed face. He nuzzled at her cheek, nosed her hair aside and let his lips slide playfully along the curve of her jaw. "Good morning," he rumbled, by way of a belated greeting.

She chuckled quietly, and as he rolled from her, she moved onto her side, facing him. "Good morning."

Their hands did not remain idle long. His fingers were feather light as he stroked her hair back from her face, and then caressed the familiar lines. Their legs tangled together, and he drew her closer to him when she shivered in the coolness of the room. His lips brushed the tip of her nose, and a smile curved her lips in response. Her feet were stroking his legs, one of them rubbed the inside of his right foot, and the other slid from calf to ankle and back again. His thumb traced the curve of her ear.

They watched one another, as the heat and flush of arousal faded into a more languid, relaxed feeling. Soon, Sharon thought, she would find voice to the emotion that was filling her. For now, there was some comfort in the fact that she saw it reflected in his gaze. It was a certain awareness, a knowing, it went beyond mutual adoration. Her fingers brushed lightly against his jaw, and he turned his head to kiss them. Soon, she thought again. But for now, she would settle on offering him her shower.

Sharon rolled over him and although her legs still trembled slightly, she stood anyway. She held out a hand and jerked her head toward the bathroom. "Shower." It was a new level of intimacy for them, a place they had not yet been together. When he took her hand, she smiled brightly at him.

If there was nothing else that he loved about her, Andy decided, it was that smile. Soon, he decided. Maybe when the divorce was final and things weren't so conflicted or complicated around them. He would tell her, and he would not stop telling her. This time, he resolved, she would know that she was loved. For the present, he let her lead him into the bathroom and his arms curled around her from behind as she set the shower to running. For the moment, holding her would be enough.


	4. Chapter 4

Unwritten - Chapter 4

by Kadi  
Rated: M

* * *

Sharon and Andy barely made it to work on time, but the important thing was that they made it. As they stepped out of the elevator on the ninth floor, with only a few minutes to spare, Sharon shot a look at him. "That won't happen again."

"Yeah it will." He smirked back at her. Her look said that they would see about that, but he was up to the challenge.

As they strode into the murder room, the sound of Sharon's heels announced their presence. "Good morning, everyone." She spotted Rusty seated with Buzz at his work station and continued on toward her office.

"Good morning, Captain." Provenza paused for a moment to glower at his partner. "Flynn." Could they be any more obvious, he wondered? His eyes narrowed when he got a good look at the tie. Red and blue striped. Naturally. It would be funny if it weren't so sickening. "You need help," he muttered.

"What?" Andy decided to play innocent. He walked over to his desk and dropped his keys onto it. "Don't look at me like that, I just got here. I haven't had time to even think about screwing with your head yet."

"I bet." The old man leaned forward in his chair and turned his attention back to his morning crossword.

At his desk, Julio snickered. He waited until the Captain was well and truly in her office before he pulled out the twenty bucks he now owed the Lieutenant. He passed it to Provenza and shook his head. "I am very disappointed in her," he deadpanned, although his eyes were gleaming. The Lieutenant had bet him twenty bucks that they'd not only show up together the next morning, but somehow matching.

"We are _all_ very disappointed in her," Provenza said. But as he took the twenty dollar bill, he grinned. "Although I'm liking it more and more at the moment."

"Try living with it," Rusty snorted from where he sat.

"What?" Buzz looked up, eyes wide and bewildered. "What did I miss?"

"I'll tell you later," Rusty promised.

"Enough." Andy pulled his chair out, but glanced around the room, scowling at them. "That's enough, alright? Have your fun, just not here, okay?" It bothered her, he knew, to have her work and home life overlap. It wasn't always avoidable, but she tried very hard to keep the two separated. Especially now that thing with Rusty and his witness status were a lot more _normal_.

Provenza glanced at him, then rolled his eyes. Oh great, so it wasn't just a summer thing. His partner had moved into protective bear mode, meaning he was well and truly attached to _this one_. He shook his head, well that was just great. It meant there were _feelings_ involved. Disgusting. "Fair enough," he decided. "Rusty, Julio," he looked from laughing detective to snickering teenager. "Zip it."

Sykes looked just as bewildered as Buzz, but at his desk, Mike shook his head and turned back to his computer. He'd had a fairly good idea what was going on, the others had just confirmed it for him. It was, apparently, more or less in the open now. That should make things interesting. "I'll explain it later," he told Amy. "Let's just say you aren't the only one keeping certain _special friends_ on the down low."

She blinked at him, then she looked at Lieutenant Flynn and her eyes widened. "Oh" She turned back to her desk and tried to hide a smile. "Got it."

"Well I don't," Buzz complained.

Rusty leaned forward and pitched his voice very low. "Out with the old," he whispered, "In with the new." He nodded his head toward Flynn. "You know, hit the road Jack… In like Flynn."

Buzz just stared at him. "Seriously?" His nose wrinkled. "_That_ is what this is about? It's old news." He shook his head and tapped the paper between himself and Rusty. "You have the basic concepts down, but I think we need to work on supporting your conclusion…"

"It would help," Provenza stated casually as the others went back to their tasks, "If you were a little less obvious about it."

"What?" Flynn shrugged at him. "I gave her a ride. Rusty has her car. His is in the shop, remember?"

"That much is true," Rusty piped up. "We're picking it up this afternoon, though. You'll have to think of more and better excuses." He grinned teasingly at the Lieutenant.

"New and better excuses for what?" Sharon appeared, cup in hand, and headed toward the coffee maker at the edge of the room.

"Nothing." Rusty turned back around and decided it was best to concentrate on completing his paper.

"Hm." Sharon hummed as she filled her cup.

At his desk, Sanchez leaned back in his chair. "Ma'am, that matter that I handled for you last night. There's a report on your desk. I got basic information on the guy. I thought you might need it, if that became an issue again later."

She flashed a warm smile at him, thankful for his detail _and_ his discretion. "Thank you, Detective. That will be helpful. I'll pass it along." She'd make sure that Gavin had it for the restraining order. With her cup in hand, Sharon moved to the murder board. They still had one section devoted to Alice and finding her true identity. She looked at it for new information. It wasn't their primary case, but none of them had felt right putting it away completely. They were working on it, as time permitted. "Anything," she asked, glancing at Amy.

"No ma'am," The detective shook her head. "We're still working on the Maryland lead."

"Alright." Sharon nodded once. "Well, I will be in my office." She had reports to complete and overtime to submit for all of them. "Let me know if your search turns up anything." It was unlikely, and the longer it took, the less likely it became. They still wouldn't give up.

In her office, she found the report from Julio. She shot a quick email to Gavin to expect the fax and then sent it along. Afterward, she dived into the pile of paperwork that never seemed to end. There was, oddly enough, a certain familiarity with the administrative side of her job that was somewhat comforting in it's monotony.

Their day was interrupted near mid-morning when the team got called to a crime scene across town. As they'd expected, another murder was taking priority over their search for Alice's identity and family. Provenza rolled the team out, along with Buzz, while Sharon coordinated from the office. She didn't feel the need to join them at every crime scene, her people were capable, more than, of handling it on their own. This shift in how the team handled things also allowed her to work more cohesively with her second in command. By actually utilizing him in that role, what had started as basic civility had become a closer, and more genuine working relationship. It also helped that there was Rusty to give them common ground.

Rusty who was already complaining about being hungry. Sharon shook her head at him. She had him order lunch, for the team as well, and then sent him to pick it up. If he was going to demand to eat, she saw no reason that he couldn't play errand boy.

After the team returned, and while they ate lunch, they all delved into the details of the case. Their preliminary theories and findings moved them through the remainder of the afternoon. When Morales called to go over the autopsy, Sharon took Amy with her to the morgue. They had a cause of death and evidence analysis was being done. In the preliminary hours of a new case, when there was very little to go on and a lot of digging to be done, it was much easier to adjourn the team for the evening when five o'clock arrived. Until SID finished processing the evidence found at the scene, along with trace sent to them by Morales, there was very little digging that the team could do. Sharon sent them home. She wouldn't be able to justify the overtime at this stage. It was best to save it for later in the case.

She gathered Rusty and both their belongings. As they left, the pair was discussing what to get for dinner. Sharon was in the mood for Thai, Rusty was trying to talk her into burgers. She laughed as she explained, once again, that burgers were not their own food group and he could not eat them five days a week.

"But _Sharon_," the teenager groaned.

"I would be willing to discuss a trade for Chinese or Italian," she told him. "But we are absolutely not stopping for burgers. Again."

"Okay, how about this," He tossed a wave at the guys on the team as he followed Sharon out of the Murder Room. "Why don't you drop me off to get my car, and _then, _you can get your Thai and I will get my burger." He nodded. "Yep, that would work."

"I don't think so," she chuckled at him.

"You're the one that is always telling me how important compromise is," Rusty shot back at her. "I think that was a more than adequate compromise on my part. Now you're going to have to work with me here, meet me half way, Sharon."

She slanted a look at him and although she was tempted to laugh again, she shook her head. They stopped to wait for the elevator. "That was a very good attempt on your part, however, you know very well that if we are doing takeout it is not going to be from separate locations. We will opt for something we _both_ like, or we can have soup and sandwiches."

His nose wrinkled. "Sure, you win. But I'm begging you. No Thai, please? It kills me," He clutched at his stomach and made a face at her.

"Fair enough," she nodded. "You had Chinese last night. What about the Italian place at the end of our block?"

"I could go for that," Rusty followed her into the elevator. When the doors shut, he slanted a smirk in her direction. "They've got that vegetable lasagna that Flynn likes."

Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "That never factored into my decision. He's not coming by tonight, anyway. He's going to a meeting."

"That's right," Rusty nodded. "It's Thursday." His head tilted. "I'd forgotten about that." His brows drew together, and he cast a questioning look at her. "He still does that? I mean, hasn't it been a long time for him? Like, years and _years_?"

"It has," she said with a nod and a small smile. She knew that Rusty's sudden interest in the Lieutenant's sobriety had to do with his mother and all the things that he was trying to learn about becoming and staying sober. He wanted a good foundation, so that if she ever showed up again, he could deal with her better. Even footing, he called it. She was exceedingly proud of him. "Almost twenty years," her pride was not only extended to her foster son.

"Wow." Rusty shifted his bag against his shoulder. "And he still goes to meetings? That's kind of… I mean, couldn't he stop now?"

"I don't think so." Sharon tilted her head at him. "Andy is really the one to ask, he wouldn't mind discussing this with you, Rusty. You know that." Her smile warmed, gentled. "Andy works very hard to remain sober, and yes, he goes to meetings at least once a week. Every Thursday night, and more often when he feels that he needs one."

"So," Rusty asked carefully, "It never just goes away?"

"No," she said softly. "It never does."

He nodded quietly and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Thanks."

She smiled at him and they left the elevator when it opened. They crossed the lobby and walked the three blocks to where he'd parked her car in silence. Rusty offered to drive, but riding with him as a passenger was not an experience that Sharon particularly enjoyed. She took her keys from him and they pulled away from downtown.

They headed northwest on the 101, not their usual route, but the auto shop where Rusty's car had been left for routine maintenance was off the highway. As they neared their exit, traffic began to grow more congested.

They were discussing how Rusty wanted to celebrate finishing his exams and graduating in a few weeks when a motorcycle darted in front of them. As the car in front of it braked, Sharon could only picture the disaster of having the bike and its rider trapped between two cars. She stamped on her own breaks, and out of instinct, her right arm was flung outward toward Rusty, as though to press him backward and shield him at the same time. They were both tossed violently forward when the car behind them reacted too slowly and slammed into the back of Sharon's silver sedan.

The momentum of the car behind them, along with her own attempt to miss slamming into the motorcycle in front had her car careening, twisting out of its lane. It was hit a second time, as another car clipped the back quarter panel and they were sent spinning toward the outside of the highway. The sound of scraping metal filled the interior of the car as it slid along the guardrail and then finally broke through in a weak spot.

The car stopped, teetered on the edge of the highway with an embankment below. Rusty moved beside her and the car shifted slightly forward. "Stop," she whispered. She gripped his arm and slowly turned her head to look at him. The side airbags had deployed, the front had not. There was a bleeding cut above his eyebrow, the side of his face was bruising from the force of the airbag's release. "Rusty?"

"I'm okay." He looked back at her. Her glasses were askew, her window was broken. There was a cut across her cheek. It didn't look too bad. "Are you—"

"I'm fine." She continued to grip his arm tightly. Her lips were suddenly very dry. The guardrail had pierced her door. Metal was digging into her side, just above her hip. "If you can open your door," she spoke slowly, calmly. "I want you to do that now, but go slowly. Make sure your phone is still in your pocket and get out of the car. Then I want you to call for help. Do you understand?"

He began to shake his head, while his eyes widened. "What? No, that's. _No_!" Rusty blinked at her. "Sharon, I'm not leaving you." Blood was running into his eye. His bangs were damp on that side of his face, stuck to his forehead. The car teetered again and he gripped his seat tightly. "Sharon," he whispered.

"Rusty." The embankment wasn't very steep, but there were rocks at the bottom. "Open your door." Her voice shook. She felt moisture filling her eyes. "Get out of the car." She watched the panic, the tears filling his eyes. Her jaw clenched. "Rusty, _please_."

Air rushed out of his lungs in a ragged breath. He nodded slowly. "Okay. But just to get help."

"That's right." She forced herself to let go of his arm. "Now, slowly," she reminded him. "Ease the door open." Her lips trembled, but her gaze was steady. She watched him do as she asked. The car was sliding forward, slowly. She pressed painfully on the break, hoping that would stop its momentum for just a few moments longer. Metal screeched as the pieces of guardrail embedded in the driver's side door were wrenching free under the weight of the vehicle.

Rusty pushed his door open only a few inches. He checked the weight of his phone in his pocket twice before he shifted carefully in his seat. He looked back at her, and for a moment he was tempted to disobey. "Sharon, I—"

"I know." She gave him a watery smile. "Oh honey, I know. I will see you in a few minutes." It sounded empty, even to her ears. A single tear slipped treacherously down her cheek. "Now, _go_."

Nothing ever hurt so much as that. She always promised she wouldn't send him away, not unless it was in his best interests. She still had never lied to him. Rusty moved out of the car and scrambled quickly toward the shoulder of the road. He had his phone in his hand, but as he turned back, the car slipped. It began moving down the embankment, picking up speed as it went. "No!" He started toward it, but found himself trapped. "No! Sharon! _Sharon_!" He fought the arms holding him, but he was drug resolutely back from the damaged guardrail.

Sirens sounded in the distance. At least, he thought, someone else had already called for help.

Minutes later Rusty was surrounded. Fire and Rescue, police, and paramedics arrived on scene. Two of the patrol officers recognized him. Rusty barely acknowledged them. He stared at them, blinking as they spoke to him. When one of them shook him slightly, he managed to snap back to the here and now, beyond the shock and panic that was pressing heavily on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

"I was with Sharon," he said quietly. "She's still in the car." Then his eyes moved back to the ruined guardrail and the obvious absence of a vehicle. "It went into the ravine."

It shouldn't have mattered, there was some logical part of Rusty's mind that registered that. But a new sense of urgency went through the group of emergency workers, especially the police contingent. One of the patrolmen, Rusty vaguely remembered his name was Chad, from all the times that he and his partner, Damon he thought, had picked him up at school. Chad began calling it in while Damon and the other officers began working the crowd, they were backing them up, giving the emergency personnel more room to work.

Rusty shrugged away from the paramedic that tried to check him over. "I'm not hurt," he said. "It's from the glass and stuff," he jerked his head to the side. It did ache, but he'd had a concussion before. This was decidedly _not_ that. His face was bruised from the airbag, there was the cut on his eyebrow and a couple more on his arms, but he was _fine_. He felt the weight of his phone still in his hand and looked down at it. Was he supposed to call someone? Rusty glanced around and noticed there were police officers on their radios and phones. Suddenly a new sense of panic seized him. The guys didn't need to hear about it like that! Then he thought, _oh crap, Flynn_! Rusty lifted his phone and swept quickly through his contacts. He had all the guys on the team on speed dial.

He called Provenza. "Lieutenant," he began once he answered. Then he didn't know what to say. "I…"

"Rusty, you're going to have to speak up. I'm in the car," he chuckled. "If this is about the burgers, there's nothing I can do to _make_ her not stop for Thai. I think we covered this one already. No one _makes _that woman do anything."

"It's not about the burgers," Rusty said quietly. "I need you to come get me." He turned where he stood. "We're near North Vermont on the 101, um…" He rubbed the palm of his other hand against his jeans, when it ached, and then stung, he looked down at it in surprise. His hand was cut. It wasn't deep, but it was enough to let him know that it was there, and that it hurt.

That sounded odd, even to his ears. The Lieutenant frowned. Rusty sounded a little strange, somewhat subdued. There had been a lot going on lately, had they fought? They were laughing when they left the office. They were going to pick up Rusty's car, dinner, and they were headed home. Everything _seemed_ fine between them. The boy hadn't been the least bit pensive an hour ago, so what had changed? "Rusty, is something wrong?" He asked carefully, he didn't really want to get into the middle of an argument between them.

"Uh…" He blinked. "Yeah. We uh…" Rusty chewed his lip. "There was an accident. The car fell. I don't know… there's all these people, and police, and… they're all staring, and some of them know me, and I don't know, and can you come get me?" He rambled his broken explanation quickly, and then took a deep breath when he'd finished.

"Rusty, calm down." Provenza pulled the car over to the first vacant curb and put it in park. "What are you talking about? There was an accident on the highway and you don't want to wait, or…" He trailed off for a moment. The kid was usually a lot more eloquent than that. "Rusty, _what happened_? Where is Sharon?"

He drew a ragged breath and let it out in a rush. There was pressure stinging behind his eyes. "She's still in the car," he said in a small voice. "It went down into the ravine. I don't know what's happening, they won't let me get close enough to see. I don't even know if she…"

Dread filled him. He quickly tried to recall what he knew of the layout at that section of highway. Yes, there were a few small ravines. The embankments weren't that steep, it was certainly nothing like in the canyons up in the hills or out near Santa Monica. Rusty wasn't alone, and that meant there were already people on scene. Provenza ran a hand over his head. "Okay," he said slowly, despite the sudden increase in his own heart rate. "Rusty, you're going to calm down and take a deep breath. I am on my way. I will be there in a few minutes. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lieutenant." He shuddered and looked around again. Then he took the deep breath as he was instructed. "I know a couple of the patrol guys. They used to pick me up from Saint Josephs, I'll be with them."

"Good," Provenza said, "that's good. I'm already turning the car around," he said. "I'll be right there." Because he intended to use lights and sirens, he ended the call. Then he called Sanchez. It would be a mistake, he knew, to take Flynn with him to the accident sight. Dammit, this was why _that_ was such a bad idea. His partner would be no good to anyone with his girlfriend trapped in her car and god only knew what else. Julio, he'd take Julio with him. Provenza pulled the car away from the curb while he dialed the young Detective's number. With Sanchez he didn't need to make a lot of explanations, he just told him where he needed to be and what was happening. He'd probably get there first, with the way Julio drove. Good, that was good. There weren't a lot of people willing to get on Julio's bad side, he'd have the situation figured out before Provenza even arrived.

Lights flashing, sirens blaring, he headed out to the 101.

Julio arrived first. He maneuvered his charger through traffic and pulled it onto the shoulder to pull up alongside the emergency vehicles that were crowded around the accident scene. Upon leaving the car, he flashed his badge at those working traffic and the crowd. He spotted Rusty easily enough, he was sitting on the back of an ambulance. A paramedic was bandaging the cut on his hand. Already there were butterfly closures on the cut above his brow. His gaze swept the kid quickly, and he relaxed at seeing that he was more or less in one piece.

"Rusty." Sanchez nodded at him as he approached.

Relief swept him. Here was a familiar face. One that he could trust. "Detective." He tugged his hand away from the medic as soon as the last strip of tape was in place and walked toward him. "No one is telling me anything."

"Stay here," Julio instructed. "I'll see what I can find out. Okay?" He laid his hand on the boy's shoulder. He was pale and a bit panicky. Rusty didn't always react very wisely when he was upset or frightened.

"Okay." He nodded. "Just…" Rusty sighed. "Can you find out if she's even alive? They won't even tell me that much."

The detective's eyes flashed. "Yeah, that I can do. Stay here," he said again. Julio left him there and strode toward the guard rail. His badge got him past the personnel standing around it. He peered over, down the embankment and into the ravine. "Damn." He hissed.

The car had come to rest against the rocks at the bottom of the ravine. The front was smashed in. Julio squinted behind his sunglasses. Fire and rescue was moving around the car, a paramedic was kneeling in the open driver's side door. That was a good sign, he decided. Still, he didn't know nearly enough. He glanced back toward Rusty and pointed a finger at him. "Wait for Lieutenant Provenza," he ordered, and then he stripped off his jacket. He tossed it over an undamaged section of the guard rail and began making his way down the embankment.

Julio's shoes skidded in the loose gravel and he almost lost his footing. He made it to the bottom, ignoring the shouts from officers above. He flashed his badge at the fireman that tried to stop him. "I'm a cop," he said. "What have we got?"

"Witnesses said the driver tried to avoid hitting a motorcycle that cut her off. The driver in the car behind her didn't break, she was slammed into the next lane, that car forced her into the guardrail. Another passenger in the car was able to get out before the car came down the embankment." He tilted his head, frowned at the officer. "Someone said the other driver was slurring a bit, might have been drunk, that's why he didn't break when she did."

"We'll check into that," Sanchez promised darkly. "How is she," he nodded toward the car. "Her kid is up top, he's asking a lot of questions, getting antsy."

"Banged up, mostly from the airbags. They went off when she hit the rocks. Cuts, bruises, a piece of the guardrail went through the door. She's got a pretty deep gash, but the medics have that under control. Her leg is broken, as soon as we get that stabilized, we'll bring her out. We had to cut the door open, that took some time," he nodded back toward the car.

Sanchez nodded slowly. There was some relief in that. "She's LAPD," he admitted finally. "I need her gun and badge out of the car, and I'd like to talk to her." His hands rested against his hips, he dared them to stop him. "She's my Captain."

Well, that explained it. The Fireman nodded. They knew better than tangle with LAPD when they were riled about one of their own. Hell, LAFD was just as bad. "Yeah, alright, I don't see a problem with it. Hey Lieutenant," he called out to his CO, leaning inside the opening they'd created along with the paramedic. "This guy needs to see our vic."

The Lieutenant straightened, frowned at them. When the man in the shirt and tie flashed a badge at him, he nodded and waved him over. "It can't wait until we get her to the hospital?"

"No." Julio moved in alongside of them. He winced, then hissed again. There were cuts and bruises, as they'd said. "Ma'am," he knelt down beside the paramedic. "You've looked better."

There wasn't a part of her that didn't currently hurt. She slanted a look at him. "I've felt it." She grimaced, speaking pulled the cut on her cheek open. It stung, bit didn't hurt too badly. "Rusty?"

"Is fine," Julio said. "A couple of cuts, and a little bruised. He's okay. Lieutenant Provenza is on his way, Rusty called him. I got here first. Ma'am, is there anyone else that we can call?"

"Gavin Baker is my emergency contact," Sharon told him. "He knows what to do. Julio, get Rusty out of here. Tell him that I'm okay, find out where they are taking me, and just… get him away from here, please?"

"I can do that," he promised her. He would body slam the kid if he needed to. "Ma'am, they're going to give me your purse. Are your gun and badge inside?"

"Yes," She hissed when a section of the console was pulled away from her injured leg. "My phone is inside too, you'll find the number for Gavin there." She chewed her bottom lip, fought the urge to whimper when her leg was moved. "Julio, Andy…"

"I'll pick him up," Julio promised. "I'll take Rusty with me. We'll get the Lieutenant and meet you at the hospital. By then, we should know where they are sending you." Usually it was the trauma center at Cedars, but that always depended upon volume already filling the hospital. Sometimes they sent them to Saint Catherine's instead.

She would have nodded, but they had her neck immobilized. "Thank you, Julio." There was some relief in knowing that Rusty would be well in hand.

"Yes ma'am." Julio stood up and looked around. He stepped away from the car, out of earshot and glowered at the others. "She gets taken care of," he growled. "Don't make me come back."

They got it, they understood. One of them retrieved her purse for the Detective. When he had it in hand, Julio glanced inside just to make sure that all three items they needed were there. That he hated, more than anyone could know, but he spotted gun, badge, and phone and was satisfied. He carried it with him as he began the climb back up the embankment.

Rusty was still waiting where he'd left him. When the detective appeared again, he took only a single step forward. "Well? How is she? What's happening? Did they tell you anything?"

"She's okay," Julio told him. "They're trying to get her out of the car, and that's taking some time. She was awake, she told me who to call and where to find the number. She also asked me to take you and go pick up Lieutenant Flynn. So you and I are going to do that. When Lieutenant Provenza gets here, he will find out where they are sending her. But Rusty," he held up a hand before the boy could start protesting. "The Captain is okay. Cuts and bruises, and it looks like a broken leg. That's it."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He still didn't want to leave, but Rusty nodded. "Okay," he said finally. She was alive, that was something. "Okay," Rusty repeated. "I can't leave," he continued. "I'm not going to leave."

"Rusty." Julio sighed. "She wants you to leave," he said gently. "The Captain does not want you stuck out here waiting for them to get her out of that ravine. She asked me to get you out of here, and that's what I'm going to do."

The teenager folded his arms over his chest and scowled. "But who is going to look out for her while we're gone? It could take the Lieutenant forever to get here. What if they bring her up and there's no one here."

"Then they'll take her to the hospital and we will be there waiting," Julio said. "Now let's go. It's not a request, Rusty. We're leaving."

Rusty stared, tearfully, toward the busted guardrail. "But… Julio… she's like…" Something inside him twisted painfully. He could hardly draw a breath at the tightening in his chest. His hands fisted, they ached at the pressure, and his cut palm throbbed. "How can you ask me to walk away from, like, my _mother_, when _she_ has never walked away from _me_."

If that admission shocked him, the detective didn't show it. "I'm not asking you too," he said quietly. "She is. That's the difference, Rusty. She's asking you to go, to be somewhere safe. Doesn't seem like that odd a request to me."

Air left his lungs in a ragged sigh. _Be safe and be kind_. It's all she ever asked of him. Those were her two main rules where he was concerned. The reminder worked. Rusty nodded silently. He let Julio lead him away from the accident scene. They would go, they would find Flynn, and they would meet her at the hospital. He would do as Sharon asked. He didn't have to like it.


	5. Chapter 5

Unwritten - Chapter 5

by Kadi  
Rated: M

* * *

The lights overhead were entirely too bright. That was the first thought that Sharon registered upon waking. The second was a dull ache behind her eyes, and that her body felt heavy. Pain medication, she knew, was keeping the worst of it at bay, but she ached all over. The only difference was that she didn't mind that she ached all over. She closed her eyes as she took stock of all that happened. There was a constant beeping in the room, her eyes followed the sound and she found the monitors and IV that were situated on the left side of her bed. Sharon shifted, and then realized it was a mistake. Pain burned through her side.

"Hey."

Movement in the chair beside her bed drew her attention. Sharon looked to her right and groaned again. "God."

"You're not going to want to move around too much." Jack moved from the chair to sit on the edge of her bed. "You got pretty banged up. That leg is broken, you know, and there's a pretty good gash in your side. I have to say, Sharon, all things considered you got lucky. I saw a picture of the car, and…" Jack whistled. "The word _totaled_ comes to mind."

Sharon was fairly certain that while the pain medication was good, it was not _that_ good. She clearly remembered everything leading up to the accident, as well as the accident itself. Upon thinking about it she decided that, yes, she was getting divorced and no, Jack should not be there. In fact, she had left specific instructions with Detective Sanchez to prevent exactly this. She blinked up at him and the instinct to lean away was rather strong, but her body ached too badly to try moving again. Instead, she passed her tongue over her dry lips and closed her eyes. "Jack, why are you here? Where is Gavin?"

"Well," he chuckled. "I know you like to pretend otherwise, but I am still your husband. That makes me your next of kin. The hospital had me down as an emergency contact. I couldn't tell you where Baker is, I haven't seen him. You shouldn't worry about any of that right now." He took her hand and held it. "The rest will work itself out, I'm just glad that you're okay. You gave us a bit of a scare, honey."

She blinked again. Was this an odd dream? Sharon was beginning to think that maybe she was still unconscious. She was hoping that was the case. Her eyes narrowed as she drew his face into focus. "Jack…" Were those bruises? That was even more puzzling. His face was bruised. He had what appeared to be a very good start to a black eye and a cut lip. "What…"

"Ricky is out in the waiting room. We can bring him in as soon as you've had a minute or two for your head to clear, now, that Emily." Jack laughed again. "I told her that she didn't need to get on a plane and come all this way, but she always was _your_ daughter. Stubborn to the very last. Near as I can tell it, she should be landing in about two hours. It's been a while since we had all of us in one location—"

"Jack!" Raising her voice made her own head ache, but it got him to stop. "_What_ are you doing here? What happened to your face?" She looked around the room. "Where is Rusty?"

"Listen," Jack began. "You need to settle down, getting upset isn't good for you. The kid is around here somewhere." He waved a hand through the air. "This is really a time for family, though, so I'm sure he can stay with Provenza for a couple of days. Or a hotel, he's an adult now."

"_What_?" Sharon shook him off her. It hurt, but she did it. She pushed him away. "Jack," her voice dropped an octave. Dread was beginning to fill her, had her chest clenching painfully. "I understand that you live in a delusional world, but the delusion ends now. This is not a fantasy. This is not an excuse for you to worm your way back into _my_ life and _my_ family. Which is precisely what Rusty is. _My son_ is not going to stay in a hotel, he is going to stay in his room. _His_ room, in our home. His and mine. When the time comes that Rusty is ready to leave, then he will do so, and I will help him, just as I did with _my_ other children. Now," reached for the side of the bed and hit the control that would allow her to sit up. "I apologize that the hospital made an error in contact you, and I can assure you that it will be remedied just as soon as I can speak to the nurse. What you are going to do is leave."

"Now, Sharon…" He began, trying to placate her.

"No." Her eyes flashed. "I want you to_ go,_ Jack. You've never had a problem leaving me before, this shouldn't be the least bit difficult for you." Arguing with him was making her head hurt that much more. She also realized that her entire right leg was throbbing. A glance showed her that the elevated appendage was both braced and casted. Wonderful. Sharon sighed and let her attention return to her soon to be ex-husband ."Before you go, I want to know what happened to your face. Is this another mess that _I_ am going to have to clean up for you?"

Jack stood up. His jaw clenched, teeth grinding together. "This?" He pointed at his face. "You'd like to know what this is? Alright." He braced himself on the bedrail and leaned over her. "That ungrateful little shit you're hell bent on keeping did this to my face. The little bastard punched me, and as if that wasn't enough, that lunatic you're screwing around with finished the job when he put his fist in my mouth. Interesting company you're keeping these days, _sweetheart_, but then as I remember, you never were very hard to please."

Her eyes widened, more at the level of venom he was throwing at her and the crass nature of it than the words themselves. "What did you—" She held up a hand. "No, I don't care. Goodbye, Jack."

"Right." He straightened. He smoothed out his suit, wrinkled now from the hour he'd spent waiting for her to wake up. "Then I guess I'll be seeing you in court, Sharon."

"I guess you will," she said quietly. Sharon reached for the call button, so that she could summon the nurse. The slamming of the door, as he left, made her jump.

The waiting room was at the end of the hall, near the elevator bank. The team was still gathered there, waiting for the Captain to wake up. Despite the earlier unpleasantness with Jack, they remained. Rusty was seated in a corner, brooding. Flynn was not far away, doing much the same, while Provenza kept an eye on both of them.

"I could have told him this was going to happen," Ricky Raydor had arrived almost an hour before, having flown in from his home in San Francisco. He shook his head. Where he sat, he had a very good view of the elevators. He watched his father storm by and practically punch the button. He didn't know exactly what happened before he got there, but he had the gist of it. His dad was being an ass. They couldn't find Gavin Baker, and in his absence, there was nothing that anyone could do, legally, to make Jack leave. He had banned them from his mother's room, Ricky had heard that much. He wouldn't let the _boyfriend_ or the _foster kid_ get anywhere near her. He also understood that some things were said and it had come to blows.

Honestly, as far as Ricky was concerned, the jury was still out on the kid. He didn't know him, and that was the point. He sure as hell didn't know the boyfriend, or even that there had been one. That was news! His mom wasn't big on the sharing, not when it came to her personal life, and he had to figure she would have said something eventually. According to his dad, she suddenly had all these wild ideas about getting divorced and adopting Rusty. Jack called it a midlife crisis. Ricky figured it was his mom finally being fed up with all the piles of crap that his dad had handed out over the years.

His statement had drawn the attention of the others. Ricky nodded toward where his father was getting into the elevator now. "Mom's awake." He stood up. "From the look of the old man, she's in fighting form." He started walking toward the corridor, but a nurse appeared directly in his path.

"Flynn, Beck, and Raydor," she stated, looking around the room.

"That's us." Andy unfolded from his chair. "Come on," he nodded Rusty toward the hall. "Time to face the music." Both of them were sporting bruised knuckles.

Rusty pushed himself out of his chair and followed. "She's never actually grounded _you_. Otherwise you wouldn't be so keen to get it over with."

"Weekend, week, or month?" Ricky asked, slanting a look at him.

"Weekend," Rusty shrugged. "Chores, no TV, no phone… and silent treatment."

"Ouch." Ricky nodded. "Yeah, been there. Wait until you've been yelled at, lectured, grounded, and given the silent treatment." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Snuck the car out one night, went joyriding with some friends. Had a _little_ fender bender…"

"Really?" Rusty's eyes widened. "How long did she ground you for _that_? I got a weekend for ditching my security detail and going to play chess in the park."

"Chess?" Ricky almost laughed. Who was this kid? What kind of street thug snuck off to play chess in the park? Ricky supposed there was only so much of anything his father said that he should believe. As usual. "That one got me an entire summer, but we really had a blast that night."

"Huh." The younger boy decided that he was pretty normal in comparison. He thought he'd given Sharon a hard time, but when she told him that she was accustomed to adolescent ingratitude, Rusty supposed she really meant it.

Andy snorted at the pair of them. Brotherly bonding, wasn't it grand. When they arrived at Sharon's room, he knocked on the door before pushing it open. He held it and let the boys move in head of him, and then he followed. He lingered near the door, hands shoved into his pockets. Rusty might worry about being grounded, but he supposed he had a little more than that to lose.

Her face was bruised, that was the first thing that Rusty noticed. The cut on her cheek had been carefully closed, and wasn't very deep at all. The doctor had said it shouldn't leave a scar. Her right leg was broken, and the knee was pretty busted up. They'd operated on the knee, and it was in a brace, while her leg was already in a cast. It was elevated, propped on a sort of pillow which was shaped for just that kind of thing. Rusty knew that she'd had a gash in her side, but it hadn't been bad, just enough to make it painful. Lucky, that's what the doctor had said. They were lucky. The guardrail catching the car had prevented it from hitting the rocks at full velocity, otherwise it might have been a lot worse, for both of them.

Ricky moved toward the bed, little hesitation in his gait. "Mom?" He touched her arm lightly, when her eyes opened, he smiled at her. "So, if you wanted a visit, all you had to do was ask."

"I'll keep that in mind next time." She held out an arm, curled it around him when he leaned down to hug her. "Hi baby. You know, you didn't have to come down here. I'm really okay."

"I know." Ricky grinned crookedly down at her. "But I figured if you were going to go all Darth Raydor on dad, I wasn't going to miss it. Turns out, I did anyway. I'm kind of bummed."

Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "All I did was tell him to leave, unfortunately, someone else beat me to it." She squeezed him again and then let go. Her gaze moved past him, found Rusty. She was finally able to breathe. Relief swept over her at seeing that he was okay. "Come here."

His feet felt heavy, but Rusty shuffled toward the bed. "Sharon…" His voice hitched, and felt a little uncomfortable doing it in front of the others, but when she held out her arm, he bent and hugged her as tightly as he dared.

She felt the tremor run through him. Her hand moved into his hair. "I'm okay," she whispered. The pain was worth wrapping both her arms around him, stroking his back with the other. "Shh," she crooned quietly. "It really is okay, now, Rusty."

He pulled back after a moment. "I hit Jack." He decided to get it out there, get that part of it over with.

"Yes." She fought the urge to smile. "So I heard. Seems you weren't the only one, either." She slanted a look at Andy, who was still hovering near the door. "We'll get to that," she told him. "I can imagine what Jack must have been saying. I don't agree with the violence," she stated, attention shifting back to Rusty. "But there's no reason to worry about it now. We'll discuss it."

Rusty sighed. "It's probably better if we don't. It wasn't good, Sharon." He stood back from the bed, shoved his hands into his pockets again.

When his mother looked at him, Ricky threw his hands up. "I wasn't here."

Sharon sighed. "Rusty…"

"We haven't been able to reach Gavin," Andy stated. "His assistant said that he's in a meeting, she would pass on the message as soon as he was out of it. When the hospital couldn't reach him either, they checked your file again and found Jack listed." He walked around to stand on the other side of her bed. He smiled, a bit sheepishly, down at her. Perhaps he had lost his temper a bit, he wouldn't regret it. His heart ached looking at her now. Her eyes were a bit glassy, a result of the pain medication, he thought. "Jack showed up, and… I guess he's still a little upset about some things. He wouldn't let Rusty in to see you when they brought you out of surgery. Some things were said." Andy shrugged. "We don't have to talk about it now."

"Oh," Her brow arched at him. "I think we do." She draped her arm across her stomach and shifted, wincing as she did, and tried to get more comfortable. "I want to know what he said that had the two of you," she looked at Rusty then at Andy, "brawling like a pair of thugs."

Andy grimaced. Her tone wasn't promising. The kid might not get in trouble, the jury was out on him. "He pushed the kid's buttons, alright? He called you a few things, that were not very flattering, and Rusty lost it for a second." She continued to stare at him, not blinking. Andy sighed. "Then he told Rusty to go back out on to the street with the other rats, where he belonged, and I popped him in the mouth. What? He had it coming."

Sharon shook her head at them. "I've been called names before, I appreciate the sentiment—"

"He told the nurses he only wanted family in the room," Rusty cut in. "He tried to send the team home, told Lieutenant Provenza to take me with him. He said now was a time for family, and since I'd aged out of the system, I was no longer anyone's responsibility. But if the LAPD still felt responsible for me, then by all means." In his pockets, Rusty's hands fisted. "He said that he knows _his wife_ likes to take in strays from time to time, but now that this happened a few things were going to change. You'd need someone to take care of you, and you weren't going to have time for unfortunate orphans or running around all over town like a common tramp. At least it happened now, before your reputation was completely ruined, and only a few people knew you'd been whoring yourself out with one of your subordinates."

"He said that?" Ricky was staring at him, eyes wide. "He actually said _those_ words?" The boy's green eyes flashed, looking more hazel than green as his own temper flared. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Rusty shrugged. "I objected to the words tramp and whore."

Ricky was silent for just a moment, then he nodded. "Good. I'd have popped his ass too."

"Richard." His mother glared at him. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Rusty, that was unfortunate. But very soon, Jack will no longer be a problem for any of us."

"Dad spouts off when he doesn't get his way," Ricky explained. "He knew he only had a limited amount of time to try and isolate mom, but if he had even half a brain left in his beer soaked head, he would have remembered she'd kick his ass to the curb the moment she was awake. Don't sweat it, the guy is… You know, I'm thinking there must have been a mutual drinking issue," as he spoke, Ricky waved his hand over his mother's prone form. "Because I just don't get it. I mean, glad to be here and all, but really?" He shook his head. "Someone forgot to tell her she wasn't supposed to take the last guy at the bar home. And keep him." He smirked at his mother. "Just saying."

Her eyes closed. If she didn't love him so much, Sharon was certain she might throttle him at times. "Thank you, Richard, for that summation."

"Yeah, sure," he shrugged and pushed his hands back into his pockets. "Anytime. I'm always looking out."

Rusty was staring at him, eyes a little wide. "Are you sure that you're related?" He looked between Ricky and Sharon, then back again. "Like, really?"

"I've always sort of wondered if there was a normal family out there, desperately trying to find me," Ricky replied. "Then I realized that I'm not normal, so really, this must be it. Oh, and I kind of look like her. Go figure. All I can say is, at least Em and I got our looks from the right side of the family tree… if you know what I'm saying."

Rusty blinked. Then he snorted. He looked down at Sharon and pointed at Ricky. "Can we keep him?"

"What? Hey!" Ricky cocked his head at him. "I think that's supposed to be my line, dude."

"I actually live here," Rusty pointed out. "I think possession and stuff actually takes precedence."

"Oh my god." Ricky blinked at him. "You're like a mini-Sharon aren't you?" He took a half step back and really studied the boy hard. "Mom, were you naughty? Did you forget to tell us? Are we sure this one is adopted? Or going to be adopted, or whatever. Because it kind of sounds like you." He waved a hand at the teenager. "I'm getting a whole Darth vibe here."

Rusty tilted his head and squinted at him. "Wait a minute." He turned so that he was facing Ricky. "Actually, _now_ I'm the one that's worried. Sharon…" He slanted a look at her and gestured at her son. "Are you sure that he's Jack's? Because I'm getting a whole Mini-Flynn vibe here."

"Oh god," she moaned. She closed her eyes and covered them with her hand. "There are two of them."

Where he stood, Andy was staring at his shoes. He was trying very hard to keep a straight face. He snickered at her distress. "Yeah, pretty sure that's something that _I_ would remember, kid."

The boys both looked at her and shrugged, "What?"

"I don't think we're supposed to get along," Ricky said in a loud whisper, leaning toward him.

"Oh." Rusty nodded slowly. "I get it."

"Yeah, I'm not supposed to trust you," he said.

"And I'm supposed to think you're an absolute douche," Rusty told him.

"Yep." Ricky looked between his mother and the guy that she was supposed to be dating. "Hey, let's go practice that. We can come back in a few and do the squabbling thing."

Rusty followed his gaze and nodded. "Sure. Let's do that."

They slipped out of the room. Once outside, with the door closed beside them, Rusty leaned against the wall. The air rushed out of his lungs. His body felt weak suddenly, and kind of heavy. He tipped his head back against the wall and drew a breath. "She didn't look too bad, right?"

"Pretty beat up," Ricky agreed. He leaned against the wall beside him, but left plenty of room between them. "Em is going to freak out."

"She'll be in good company," Rusty said. "I'm freaking out right now."

"Same." Ricky looked toward the ceiling and sighed. "So… my dad really said all that? About mom and you?"

Rusty looked at his shoes. "Yeah, it was… it was kind of a thing. I thought Julio was going to kill him. But Lieutenant Flynn got to him first, and Lieutenant Provenza was yelling at us to settle down… and then Amy grabbed me while the others grabbed Flynn. Julio, sorry, I mean Detective Sanchez, he told Jack that unless he wanted to become a patient himself that he should get out of their sight. So that's when your dad kind of… locked himself in Sharon's room."

"Jeez." Ricky shook his head. "I'm sorry. I know I'm not responsible for him, but I feel like I should say it anyway."

"You're not." Rusty glanced at him. Just as he wasn't responsible for the things that his mom had done. "But thanks," he said instead, a bit awkwardly. Now that they weren't trying to put on a show for Sharon, it felt odd.

"Yeah." Ricky pushed away from the wall. "So, want to grab a coffee and… give them a couple of minutes to… do whatever it is old people do when they're dating?"

"That would be good," Rusty decided. "There are some things I'm not supposed to see."

"I heard that." They started down the hall again, back in the direction of the waiting room. "So, I'm Ricky."

He slanted a look at him, a small smile appeared. No, they hadn't been introduced yet, not formally. Skype didn't seem to count. "Rusty."

"Nice to meet you Rusty." He shoved his hands back into his pockets. "Now, about this adoption thing… You're going to want to think about that. We're kind of a mess, in case you hadn't noticed."

Rusty glanced sideways at him. "Yeah?" He shrugged. "You have no idea." It was looking pretty normal compared to what he'd come from. As they walked down the hall, he was thinking that just maybe the idea wasn't so off the wall. It was still _definitely_ worth thinking about.

Andy watched them leave. He shook his head and let go of the laugh that he'd been holding in. "You are so screwed."

"Thank you," Sharon shot a weak glare at him. "I had, more or less, figured that one out on my own."

"Well, you are a little loopy." Andy rounded the bed, now that the boys were gone. He eased down on the edge of her mattress and reached up to gently cup her face. His thumb traced over the butterfly strips holding the cut on her cheek together. "You know, scaring the hell out of me, it's not exactly what the doctor ordered for my blood pressure."

"Hm." She hand curled around his wrist. She turned her face into his palm and sighed. "It's not doing a lot for mine either." A tremor ran through her and she let go of his hand to cover her eyes again. She drew a ragged breath.

"Sharon." His hand swept over her forehead, pushed her hair aside. "It's okay, you're safe now, you both are."

She trembled again. "He wouldn't get out of the car." Her hand fell and she looked at him, eyes wet. "He wasn't going to leave, I had to _make_ him get out of the car." Her hand shook when she pressed her fingers against her trembling lips. "There is a barely a scratch on him, but it could have been so much worse—"

"Come here." Andy eased her up and into the circle of his arms. He tucked her against his chest, her head beneath his chin. He stroked her back, in slow, gentle circles. His other hand slipped into her hair and his fingers gently worked her scalp. It was the fear, finally finding a release. He held her, well aware of the tears dampening his collar. She hardly made a sound at all, but the sniffling and trembling made his heart ache. He pressed his lips against her ear. "He's okay," he whispered. "Rusty is safe." Everything that she had gone through to keep the kid from coming to harm, and it was a stupid auto accident that almost took him out. Almost took them both out. Andy held her closer. He turned his face into her hair. Beneath the antiseptic smell of the hospital, he could pick out the faint traces of her perfume.

After another few minutes, when the sniffling slowed, Andy tipped her head back. He looked down into her moist, red rimmed eyes. His thumbs swept her cheeks, gently smoothing away the lingering trace of her tears. Then his thumb traced her bottom lip. His lips followed, brushing hers in the faintest of kisses. "You're okay," he whispered.

She nodded slowly, her gaze softened as she looked up at him. "I am," she agreed in a low murmur. Sharon shrugged. "Mostly." She reached up and let her fingers brush his jaw. "I'm sorry about Jack, but thank you for looking out for Rusty."

"Like any of us would do anything else?" Andy shook his head. "Hell, Sharon… He was lucky it was me. Julio was ready to take his head off and I don't think any of us would have been inclined to stop him. Amy's hand was hovering near her gun. If I hadn't decked him, it would have gotten ugly fast."

"Hmm." Her lips curved into a small smile. "Violence as a means of crowd control. I seem to remember this argument from your Robbery-Homicide days. You decked a camera man, as I recall, who snuck across the tape at a crime scene."

"Well, it worked for me back then." He grinned crookedly down at her. "I'm not above recycling well thought out excuses. They're all still here." His hand moved through her hair. "They'll want to see you before they go."

Sharon groaned quietly. She tucked her face against his neck again. "I'm bruised, my hair is a mess, and my makeup is gone. I don't suppose we could convince them to wait and drop by the condo after I'm released?"

Andy snorted. "Not a chance." His hand slid down her back again. "I wasn't the only one you scared the hell out of. I think you're going to have to grin and bear it, sweetheart."

"In a few." She wasn't ready yet. When sitting up made her side throb, she eased back. She drew a breath, slowly, and then let it out, carefully. The guardrail had pierced her door, and the metal had sliced a small gash just above her hip. There was no serious damage, but it hurt like hell.

"Do you want me to get the nurse?" He still held her hand in one of his, but traced the bridge of her nose with the index finger of his other.

"Not yet." Her eyes closed and she concentrated on breathing for a moment, while it eased. "I'm glad you're here."

He waited for her eyes to open and winked at her. "Where else would I be?" Andy leaned over her, dropped another soft kiss to her lips. "Just so you know… just so it's out there… I love you." _Soon_, he had decided, upon realizing she would be okay, was going to be _now_.

"Andy." She lifted a hand to cup his cheek. She gave him a watery smile. "I know." He told her often, and in a thousand different ways, just not with the actual words. Her fingers traced the rugged curve of his jaw. "I love you," she whispered. Maybe, she decided, it wasn't about being ready. It was about living. She drew him to her, into a kiss that was far more lingering than his light caress from earlier. Her lips curved against his, into a small smile. "How long do you think we have before they force their way in here?"

"Minutes," he said against her mouth, "at best."

"Hm." She hummed quietly. "Do you know what happened to my purse? There's a brush and makeup bag…"

Andy closed his eyes. His shoulders shook with silent laughter. He lifted his head and had to grin at her. "You horrible, vain woman."

"You really have no idea," she told him. "Sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"

He watched the sparkle enter her eyes again, relaxed a bit at the way they crinkled at the corners. "I think I have a pretty good idea. Thing is, I've seen you without makeup, I still think you're beautiful."

It was the absolute right thing to say. He seemed to do that quite often. She smiled warmly at him. "Get up here." She shifted to make room for him. It wasn't easy, with her leg in a brace, and a cast, but she managed to lean against him once he was beside her on the narrow bed. "So, about my car… how bad was it really?"

Andy stroked her hair. He winced. "We'll get you a new one."

With a groan, she pressed her face into his neck.


	6. Chapter 6

Unwritten - Chapter 6

by Kadi  
Rated: M

* * *

The sound of heels clicking against tile alerted them to the presence of another. The young woman was tall, willowy in appearance. Her hair was a shade of deep chestnut. Her gaze swept the room and finally fell on the familiar form of her brother. "What the hell!" She strode toward him, tossed her purse on an empty chair nearby. "Are you kidding me?"

Ricky looked up at her. His lips pursed. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that… Jack called you?"

"A-plus for the Stanford frat boy," Emily shook her long hair back. "Is he drunk, crazy, or just plain stupid?" She had her phone in hand and shook it at him.

His head tilted. Ricky shrugged at her. "Let's go with D, all of the above. What are you yelling at me for? I'm not his keeper." He held out the bag of potato chips in his hand. "Want some?"

"No, I do not." Emily took the bag from him and dug into it with a huff. "You're the oldest. It's your job to keep track of the insane parentals. I'm the youngest, my job is to be cute and not have to worry about paternal insanity." She stuffed a chip into her mouth. "How's mom?"

Beside him, Rusty blinked. "Is she always like this?"

"No, occasionally, she's worse." Ricky smirked. "Hey Em, got news for you. Not the youngest anymore." He hooked a thumb at Rusty. "Meet the little brother."

"Exactly!" Emily stated. "_What_ are they _thinking_?" She looked at Rusty and smiled brightly. "No offense, minor meltdown, bear with me for a minute. Seriously?" She continued without losing a beat. "Divorce, I got. Adoption _and _Dating? And she doesn't tell me? I get why she didn't tell you, hello drama queen, but she didn't tell _me_ and I am seriously put out by that."

"Really?" Ricky reached up and snatched his chips back. "Hadn't noticed." He stuffed a chip into his mouth and grinned at her. "What's the big?"

His sister sighed in abject exasperation. "How am I related to you?" She shook her head. "It would be nice to have a suitable come back when the sperm donor calls ranting about the maternal unit."

"Ah…" He nodded slowly. "I see." Ricky grinned at her. "Your mistake was answering the phone. I have no sympathy."

"I thought it was about mom!" Emily snatched the chips out of his hand again. "Turns out, it was, but not in the way I was expecting. Hello! I thought he had an update about how she was doing. I didn't know he was going to be blowing his top about _who _she is doing."

Rusty choked on his soda. "Can we not go there," he wheezed.

As Emily chewed on another potato chip, she realized there were more eyes on her than just her brother and, well, she guessed it was brother_s_ now. She looked around the room and found several older guys and one woman staring at her. "What?" She focused on the nearest one, a latino man in a rumpled suit. "Are you looking at something in particular?" Her hand found her hip and she tilted her head at him. "Should I take a picture so it will last longer for you?"

Her tone was pure Brooklyn, but with the undercurrents of their upper crust Catholic, California raising. Ricky snickered. "Stand down Captain Ballerina. They're with us."

The cocked hip, the tilted head, and the expression on her face combined with the dark chestnut hair and the light eyes had Julio blinking. His gaze shifted slowly and he nudged Tao beside him. "There's two of them."

"I'm seeing that," The Lieutenant replied.

"I'm not sure if it's a good thing," Buzz agreed on Julio's other side, "or if I should be disturbed."

"I'm going with disturbed," Amy decided. "Maybe a little frightened."

Emily looked at the boys and tossed her hair again. Her eyes, more gray than green, flashed in mild irritation. "Really?"

"Come on," Ricky stood up and took her arm. He nodded at Rusty to join them. "Don't antagonize mom's police friends. They're members of her team and you're freaking them out a bit with your Mini-Darth routine. Let's go see mom. I was going to head back in there soon anyway." She had slept for a while after his initial visit, and then the doctor had come to check on her. "Gavin and the _boyfriend_ are in there right now. He's apologizing profusely for being the horrible person that he was today."

"The boyfriend?" Emily frowned at him.

"No," he drawled. "Gavin. They couldn't get ahold of him after the accident. That's how Jack ended up involved in everything. He brought flowers, gourmet chocolate, and a new purse."

"Wow." She laughed. "A new purse too, he was a bad friend. Michael Kors?"

"Fendi." Ricky grinned.

"Oh my _god_!" Emily's widened. "He really is sorry. What did Jack do?"

"Banned little brother and new boyfriend from mom's room while she was unconscious, picked a fight, got his ass kicked, and then mom woke up and kicked his ass _out_." Ricky summed the evening up for her in a single sentence.

"I feel like I miss _all_ the fun," she pouted. "Who kicked his ass? That's a person I really want to meet."

"One of them you already have." Ricky jerked a thumb at the silent Rusty on his other side. "He objects to our mother being called a tramp and a whore. Gave the old man a black eye. Jack didn't like that much, mouthed off, so the boyfriend popped him in the mouth."

Emily leaned past her brother to get a look at the new one. "Huh." She nodded. "Nice."

Rusty shrugged. "I shouldn't have. Sharon still wants to _discuss_ it later," he said, making air quotes.

"Ah." She winced. "The violence never solves anything lecture, hm." Emily sighed. "I feel your pain. Just smile, nod, and promise never to do it again. Once she gets it out of her system, she's fine."

His brows climbed toward his hairline. Rusty squinted at her. "Got into a lot of fights did you?"

"Just the one." Emily smirked. "Beat that heifer down with her own ballet shoes. I lost an entire week being grounded, but it was worth it. It was epic."

"You beat a girl up with _ballet shoes_?" Rusty stared at her. "You're kidding."

"Oh no," she smiled brightly. "The toe box at the end is hard, it feels like you're being hit by a block of wood when you swing the shoe just right."

"She's not lying," Ricky told him. "As someone who has been on the receiving end of those having been thrown at him, ballet shoes can make interesting weapons."

"You're both a little weird, you know that right?" Rusty gave them both a peculiar expression.

"We like to think of it as unique," Emily said. "The nuns said we were just a bit quirky, which was to be expected, considering we came from a _broken home_."

"Nuns?" Rusty made a face. "That sounds like Sister Agnes."

"Oh god." Emily shuddered. "She sent you to Saint Joe's? You poor thing."

He shrugged. "It wasn't that bad." They both stared at him until he rolled his eyes. "Okay, it could have been better…"

They stopped outside Sharon's door and Ricky knocked on it. They waited for the summons before pushing it open. He moved inside, Rusty behind him. "Hey… if Gavin has finished groveling, we brought you something."

"I provide adequate compensation for bad behavior," Gavin pointed out. "I do not grovel."

"Yeah, he did," Andy grinned. "It was almost embarrassing."

Sharon shook her head at them. "Boys." She turned her attention to her sons. "You didn't have to do that. Actually, it's getting late, you should both go back to the condo and get something to—" She trailed off when a familiar dark head appeared from behind Rusty. "Emily."

She moved around the boys and hurried to the bed. "Mom." Emily bent and stepped into the hug that was waiting for her. "I was so worried. I'm so sorry that I couldn't get here sooner. I couldn't get a flight without a layover and it was raining buckets in Dallas, so we got delayed on the connecting flight." She leaned back, held her mother at arm's length. "How are you?"

"Bumps and bruises," she promised. Sharon cupped her daughter's face in both hands. "I have missed you. Come here," she wrapped her in another hug and kissed the side of her head. "You really didn't have to come, Em, but I'm glad that you did."

"Don't be stupid, of course I did." Emily sat on the edge of the bed. "When your mother totals her car, you get on a plane. Nothing else matters."

"I'm going to take that as my cue to leave," Gavin announced. "I'll drop by in the morning," he told Sharon. "I"ll bring breakfast, god knows I'm not letting you eat the slop in this place."

"Thank you, Gavin," she smiled at him. They would also finish discussing how quickly they could finish getting Jack out of her life, for good.

"Lieutenant," he nodded at the man. "Sharon spawn." He wriggled his fingers in a wave and made his way toward the door.

After he was gone, Emily leaned back. "So," she said at length. Her gaze moved over the older gentleman in the room. "Not bad, Mom. I approve."

"Emily!" Sharon's cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. "Honestly!"

"What?" Her daughter smirked. "I only found out about him today, I think I'm allowed to sufficiently embarrass you."

"You know what," Andy stood up. "I'm going to take that as my cue to get out of here too." He leaned over the opposite side of the bed and brushed a light kiss across her mouth. "I'll be back in the morning. Get some rest, okay?"

"Hm." Her lips curved into a small smile. "I will, but you don't have to leave."

"Enjoy your kids, Sharon. I'll be back." He kissed her again, this time the top of her head and rounded the bed. "It was nice to meet the two of you," he told them, "and Rusty, you know how to get ahold of me if anything happens."

"Yes," Rusty nodded with a smile. "I will call if she misbehaves."

"Good man." He waved at the others. "Ricky, Emily, goodnight."

Sharon watched him go, and when she realized her children were staring at her, she frowned. "What?"

"Nothing." Ricky studied the interior of his chip bag.

"Didn't say a thing." Rusty leaned against the wall near the foot of her bed.

"Mom, your adoration is showing." Emily smirked at her.

She rolled her eyes at them. "I don't know what you're talking about." Sharon settled back on the bed and got comfortable again.

"Of course not," Emily continued. "You always gaze in longing and desperation when a man leaves the room." She gave it her most dramatic drawl and fluttered her lashes as an added bonus. "When did it start, how serious is it, and are you planning on keeping him?"

"We're not going to discuss it," Sharon said, eyes closed but she had a smile playing at her lips. "It's none of your business, and I might just."

"Girl code." Ricky told Rusty and shoved another chip into his mouth. "Don't try to understand it. It'll give you a migraine."

"Yeah," Rusty grinned. "Figured that out already."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Emily moved up beside her mother in the bed and stretched out alongside her. "Secrets do not make friends, Mom. Besides that, it's just rude. I had to hear it from Dad, do you know how much that sucks?" She pouted for good measure.

"I know." Sharon curled her arms around her baby girl. "It wasn't at all how I wanted either of you to learn any of this. I'm sorry, honey." She cuddled her close. "I had intended to tell the both of you about Andy this weekend, as for the rest…" Sharon sighed. "Well, those were situations that hadn't quite worked themselves out yet."

"Not yet," Rusty rocked back on his heels. "You've still got to sign the papers and give them back to Gavin."

Sharon's gaze snapped to him. They hadn't discussed it again, beyond the fact that he was thinking about it. "What?"

"Well, you can't adopt me if you don't sign the papers," Rusty shrugged, flashed a small smile at her. "I guess you'll have to do the divorce thing first, and that's fine. I assume that, despite his inability to answer a phone, Gavin knows what he's doing."

"Yes," Sharon answered carefully. "He does." She studied him closely. "Are you sure? There's no hiding it now, you've seen exactly what you're getting yourself into." She chewed on her bottom lip, a bit hopeful, and a little stunned.

"Well, you're getting rid of the inappropriate father figure," Rusty pointed out. "We seem to get along adequately enough," he said, gesturing to Ricky. "The jury is still out on that one," he waved a hand at Emily. "I haven't decided if she was snarking at Detective Sanchez or flirting with him. I'm a little weirded out by it."

"Emily!" Sharon shot a look at her. "Please tell me you were not—"

"Relax." She waved it off. "He would be so lucky. I'm still dating Eric," she stated, of the choreographer she had met in New York. "I mean, I know that everyone says I'm the mini-Sharon, but unlike you, I cannot handle two relationships with two different men at the same time. Give me a few years. I obviously have so much left to learn," she teased.

"Rotten, _rotten_ child," Sharon groaned. "I did not raise you to speak to your mother that way," She sniffed.

Emily laughed. "You raised me to be independent, to fight for what I believe in, love like there is no tomorrow, and always speak my mind." She shrugged. "Honestly, Mom, you've got no one to blame but yourself."

"I'm beginning to believe you," Sharon shook her head. "Rusty…"

"I'm sure." He grinned. "They're weird. Makes me seem like the normal one, and honestly, I can get behind that." Rusty shrugged at her. He couldn't explain it, at least not in front of the others. It was a discussion they would need to have when they were alone, but he figured that maybe he'd finally found the place where he belonged. It was also like he'd told Julio earlier that day, in his own way… he finally understood what having a mother was like, maybe because he finally had one.

She smiled back at him, understanding what he wouldn't say. He'd made his decision, and it seemed he'd had a glimpse of the alternative and didn't like it. They'd had a look at what it would be like, to not have anything legally binding them. "I'll talk to Gavin," she said softly. "We'll figure out the details."

"We should let you get some sleep," Ricky decided. He didn't like how pale and drawn she was looking, despite however happy she might _feel_ at the moment, he also knew that she was in a considerable amount of pain, and needed to rest. "We'll come back first thing in the morning," he promised.

"I suppose." She hated to see them go, but Sharon was fading quickly. She was due another does of pain medication and it could not come quickly enough if she was honest about it. "We'll talk more tomorrow," She promised them. "I really am so very glad that you're here," she hugged her daughter to her again.

"So am I." Emily pressed a kiss to her cheek before carefully moving off the bed. "I just wish it was for better reasons. We'll talk tomorrow, I promise." She stepped back, making room for the boys.

"Is there anything that you'd like us to bring you?" Ricky asked. "I thought we could pack a bag, bring it back in the morning. Hospital gray is not your color mom."

She chuckled quietly. "Yes, I would like that." Sharon smiled warmly at him, tipped her cheek to one side when he bent to say goodnight. "I'll text you a list. Thank you, honey."

"Check you out, getting down with the technology," Ricky teased. "I'm so proud."

Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "Richard."

"Right, pushing it, got it." He smirked and moved aside.

"Do you want the dark cardigan or the gray one?" Rusty grinned knowingly. "You might want to text me that list…" He leaned over and hugged her. Twice in one day was a new record for them, but it hadn't exactly been a normal day.

"I will." She held him close. When he leaned back, she cupped his chin. Sharon smiled brightly, just for a moment, and let him pull away from her. "Go," she told them. "Get out of here. Send one of the Lieutenants back, the team should get out of here too," she decided. She watched them leave, and then settled back and closed her eyes. She exhaled slowly, and her body throbbed all over. Sharon reached for the button on the morphine pump and pressed it with a sigh. She kept her eyes closed as she waited for the medication to take effect. She must have dozed, a hand on her arm startled her. Her eyes fluttered open and she found Lieutenant Provenza standing near the bed.

He touched her arm again when she started to sit up. "No, don't," he said gruffly. "You should really get some rest. Rusty said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," she ran a hand over her face, into her hair. "I'd like you to send everyone home. I'm fine, really, and there's no reason for anyone to spend their night in the hospital."

"I agree," he shrugged. "I sent Tao and Sykes home already. Julio and I stayed back to make sure the kids had a ride. Buzz wanted to make sure Rusty was okay. Flynn's already gone." Provenza hesitated for a moment, then added, "He went to a meeting."

"I thought he might." She smiled. "Andy is very good at taking care of himself. I appreciate your looking out for them tonight, and yes, please, see that they all make it back to the Condo. Then go home," she insisted. "You still have a case to work. I want everyone back on it first thing tomorrow."

"They will be." The Lieutenant pointed a finger at her and shook it. "But I am in charge for the next little while. You are not to worry about it. We know how to do our jobs," he said, not unkindly.

She sighed. "Very well." Sharon was simply too tired and in too much pain to argue with him. Especially when his logic was mostly sound. "Then I will say goodnight. I do, however, expect regular updates."

"I'll see what I can work out," he decided. "Sharon, get some sleep. You look like hell."

She chuckled quietly. "That is one piece of advice that I intend to take. You'll keep an eye on Rusty? Emily and Ricky can be a bit overwhelming."

"We noticed." He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. We know how to take care of Rusty."

"Thank you." She sank into the thin mattress beneath her once more. "Goodnight, Lieutenant. With any luck, I will be seeing you very soon."

"Goodnight, Sharon." He stepped away from the bed, pointed at her again. "Sleep, that's an order."

"Yes sir," she closed her eyes, very much against her will. She was already more than halfway there. With thanks due to the Morphine, she was asleep again before he'd even left the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Unwritten - Chapter 7

by Kadi  
Rated: M

* * *

"Because this is not awkward at all." It was Ricky that voiced the thought. After leaving the hospital the three of them had driven back to the condo. Now, without their mother to act as a barrier, they were seated around the living room staring at one another. Silence had stretched between them for several long minutes until finally, unable to stand it, Ricky had spoken.

They had put on a good show at the hospital, but now it seemed they had nothing at all to talk about. Or rather, they did, but did not know how to broach the topic.

It wasn't as though they were completely unknown to one another. Ricky and Emily knew who Rusty was, and he them. They might not have _met_ prior to that day, in the formal sense of the word, but they had spoken. Sharon's kids often called the house phone if they could not reach their mother on her cell, and Rusty had been present when Sharon skyped with them on weekends. There was at least a basic sense of familiarity. Rusty hated to think what might have happened otherwise.

The thing was, they were still strangers. There was a common thread tying them together, and she was currently, painfully, absent.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here," Ricky continued, still feeling a need to fill the silence, "and just say that this is probably _not_ how mom planned for this to go."

"You think?" Emily made a face at him. "Wow, that Stanford education is really paying off, Mister Obvious." But she was smiling at him, to curb the sting of her snark. She sat back in the large armchair and folded her legs beneath her. "This doesn't have to be weird. We are three intelligent—" She stopped, tossed a grin at her brother, "reasonably intelligent adults. Surely we can figure out how to relate to one another without mommy looking after us?" She waved a hand at Rusty. "So, you're going to be part of the family, yes?"

"That's what I hear." Rusty was seated in his usual spot on the sofa. Like Emily, he had his legs folded beneath him. His laptop was in the cradle of his lap, but he hadn't opened it yet. "Sharon wants to adopt me, but now that I'm 18, it's sort of weird, and I don't know." He shrugged. "She uh…" He picked at a loose thread on the seam of his jeans. "She didn't think either of you would have a problem with it. And if you do, that's okay, I mean, I understand…"

"Pft," Emily waved a hand at him again and shook her head. "Knowing mom, she decided to keep you about five minutes after she brought you home. It's not up to us to agree or not, that decision is completely between you and mom. It doesn't effect us, not really. I mean, yeah we get a new brother, but as far as mom is concerned, we already kind of do. If making your decision has anything to do with what anyone thinks outside of you and mom, then you'll want to rethink your thought process." Emily smiled at him, and managed to look very much like her mother. "It's between you two, Rusty. Don't worry about us, or our dad, or anyone else. If you're going to stay, then stay. If you're going to leave, be up front about it. Don't hurt her." She shared a brief, knowing look with Ricky. "I think that's the only thing that we've been worried about."

"We don't know you." Ricky leaned forward. He was seated at the opposite end of the sofa. "I mean, we know what mom has told us and what we googled. Which isn't a whole lot. We don't know if you're using her, or if you genuinely care. We'll give you the benefit of the doubt, because you seem like a nice kid, and because mom cares about you so much. She's a pretty good judge of people, and that's good enough for us. It's weird," he admitted with a shrug. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. It's always been just the three of us, so, it's kind of… strange for us to suddenly share mom with someone other than each other." He paused for a moment. Then he shrugged again, because he had a lack of words to describe the situation. "Like Em said, it doesn't have to be weird. Not completely."

"I don't want to hurt her," Rusty said, almost at once. He looked between the two of them. "I…" He hesitated, because these were not things that he talked about with other people. Except maybe with Sharon, or Lieutenant Provenza. He talked to Buzz sometimes, and then there was Doctor Joe, of course. Rusty was still largely uncomfortable with other people knowing things about him. "No one ever really… took care of me before. I mean, I took care of myself, and I guess I wasn't as good at it as I thought I was." He found it easier to talk if he stared at the top of his computer. He picked at the edge of the lid. "I don't want to go anywhere else. Staying with Sharon has been like, the running theme of my life the last couple of years. Now that I actually have a choice… I don't want to _be_ anywhere else. I've been thinking about the adoption thing since Jack told me about it, and the really odd part about it was… the first thing I thought was that I wished she'd thought of it sooner. So I guess… I'm kind of in, and I know," he looked at Emily, "that it's no one's decision but mine and Sharon's, but I don't want to cause any problems for her. I _know_ that I have not always been easy to handle, but things are finally normal. Or as normal as they get for us, and you two having a problem with this would be a problem for her, and I am so done with causing problems for Sharon."

Brother and sister looked at one another. It wasn't entirely hard to gauge what each other was thinking. They may not always understand where this had come from, how their mother had found this boy or why they had bonded so closely and so quickly. Or maybe they did get it. Maybe like them, it was a matter of having been abandoned by people that were supposed to protect and love him. Similar hurts, in an odd kind of way. Sharon had been abandoned by her husband, to his addiction and rambling lifestyle. They had been abandoned by their father. Like Rusty, they'd only had Sharon. Ricky tilted his head, Emily nodded.

"Then I guess that's all there is to say," Emily said, speaking for both of them. "Except maybe, welcome to the family, Rusty Beck." She paused, arched a brow at him. "She's not going to make you change it to Raydor right, because those two names—"

"No." Rusty exhaled, a bit relieved. He grinned, somewhat brightly at having all of _that_ out of the way. It might still be awkward going forward, and they still didn't _know_ each other, but at least the opportunity was there now. "We've had that conversation. She agrees that inflicting that on me would just be cruel and unusual punishment."

"Well, at least she learns from her mistakes." Ricky smirked at him. "Ricky Raydor? Yeah."

He snorted. "Sorry man."

"Yeah, me too." Ricky shook his head.

"So, anyone hungry?" Emily got up and walked toward the kitchen. "I am _starving_. I could eat a whole pizza right now."

"I thought ballet dancers were supposed to, like, starve themselves or something?" Rusty shifted on the couch, his gaze following her into the kitchen.

"Some of them do," Emily admitted. "The dancing world is full of unhealthy eating habits." She was opening cupboards, looking for snacks or something to eat. "Just like the acting and modeling worlds. Fortunately, we have met my mother, so it won't sound at all odd to you that she and me meeting with a nutritionist once a week from the time I turned thirteen until I left for Juilliard five years later." She stopped her search for a moment and leaned against the breakfast bar, facing him. "We have to be thin, we need to maintain a certain weight and body style so that not just the mechanics of the dance look right, but so that we can be lifted. During a show, it's strict dieting and exercise, but _healthy_ dieting. I eat six small meals a day and exercise regularly to keep my metabolism high. When I'm at home, it's pig out time. So, what do we have?" She opened the drawer where the menus were kept and began flipping through them. "What I could _really _go for right now is a greasy cheese burger with onions and mushrooms, and oh my god, a huge order of chili-cheese fries."

"Throw in onion rings and a chocolate shake and I'll even go get it," Ricky said.

When they looked at him, Rusty wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Looked like he was getting his burger after all, but not exactly in the way he'd wanted it. He finally shook his head and decided to go with the part of him that thought it was cool Sharon's kids liked the same things he did. "Yeah, I could get behind that. There's a place a few blocks over—"

"Joeys!" Emily and Ricky chorused with grins.

"Right." Rusty shook his head. "I guess I keep forgetting that you two would know this neighborhood better than I do."

Emily giggled. "Maybe. I can tell you, we have been driving mom batty with Joeys for _years_." She took out a pad of paper. "What does everyone want? I'll call it in."

"Joey Special, all the way," Rusty told her. "Fries, large coke."

Her brows shot up. "All the way? Even jalapeños?" Emily didn't look convinced.

"Of course with the jalapeños," Rusty wrinkled his nose at her. "How do you eat _your_ Joey specials?"

"I think I love you." Emily was writing it down. "Rick? Same thing, no mushrooms, right?"

"You got it," he got up and found his keys. "Don't forget the shake and onion rings."

"I'm not going to forget your shake and onion rings," She rolled her eyes at him. "See, this is me, writing it down."

Ricky leaned over her shoulder to make sure, and to annoy her. "You write like such a girl," he said.

"Uh, hello…" Emily lifted her head and looked at him. "I _am_ a girl."

"Yeah, okay," he smirked at her.

Her eyes narrowed. "Richard, I know it's been a few months since Christmas, but let me remind you that I also fight like a girl…"

He put his hands up and backed away. "Okay, I'm going. I'm going to swing by the corner store while I'm out. Grab some snacks and sodas, and stuff. Need anything?" He looked from his sister to Rusty. When they both shook their heads, he nodded. "Back in a few."

Rusty waited for him to go before he, carefully, ventured. "When you say that you fight like a girl…"

"I will scratch your eyeballs out, pull your hair, and slap you silly," Emily looked up and winked at him. "My momma taught me to use what I have. I am little, but I am mean, and if you make fun of my ballet shoes, I will knock you over the head with them." She started giggling. "Ricky and his friends used to torment the crap out of me. They were so mean! So finally, one day, I go in the house—" She paused, "We used to have a house, mom got this place after we left home, anyway!" Emily shook her head because she was getting off topic. She walked around to sit on the other end of the sofa, facing him. "I went inside, crying, because Ricky and his jerk friends were making fun of me and I was all of twelve. Mom decided that being diplomatic wasn't working. She told me to handle it the same way she used to handle her brothers." Emily grinned widely. "I fought back. They didn't bother me a whole lot after that."

"Bullies usually move on after you fight back," Rusty agreed. "Sometimes you just have to show them you're not weak. I like it," he nodded. "I don't see Sharon advocating violence, but I can see her telling you to stand up for yourself."

"Well, I got in trouble, but it was worth it." Emily shrugged. "There are consequences for our actions, and mom did warn me about that before hand. The choice was either to put up with the crap they were dishing out, or to fight back, but every action has a resulting reaction. For Ricky and his friends, it was getting the snot slapped out of them. For me it was spending a week grounded. There was a lesson in it for all of us, for me, it was that sometimes doing what is right for yourself doesn't always come with a reward. But that's mom for you."

"Yes," Rusty nodded with a grin. "That does sound a lot more familiar."

"Indeed." Katie swept her thumb across the face of her phone. "Now, I better order this if we want to eat it." She dialed the number for the cafe from memory.

"Right." Rusty stood up. "I'm going to go pull out the air mattress and stuff. You're taking Sharon's room, right?"

"Yes," She told him. "She sent us both that list of things she needs, so don't worry about it. I'll go through the underwear drawer."

"You are just not right." Rusty shuddered as he made his way down the hall. He shook his head when the echo of her laughter followed him down the hall.

**MCMCMCMC**

When the door to her hospital room opened at a quarter to five the next morning, Sharon was already awake. How anyone was expected to rest while in the hospital, she would never know. Especially with a nurse or aid coming into the room every hour, on the hour, and waking her for a vitals check. Or to give her medication. Honestly, if she was sleeping, and had the morphine pump, then why did she need to take the oral pain meds? It was really rather ridiculous as far as she was concerned. After being awakened at four, she found that she simply didn't have it in her to try and sleep anymore. Instead she pulled out the spare pair of reading glasses she kept in her purse and was utilizing her cell phone's book app.

She had raised the head of the bed, and was reclining against the pillows. She had brushed her hair and pulled it back from her face, so that it was secured in a clip. Her injured leg was propped, the knee elevated. She had managed to be coherent enough around midnight to ask about the damage there, during one of the many times she was awakened by the nursing staff. She managed to break the leg, where her foot had been pinned beneath the car's console. It was a fairly clean break, the bone had snapped just an inch above the ankle, but with her age, they'd placed pins to help facilitate healing. The force of impact to her knee had caused a dislocated patella, it was now surgically repaired. There would be some healing time for both injuries. The rest was a myriad of bruises, scrapes, and cuts. The gash in her side was the worst of that, but had taken only six stitches to close. The metal had not protruded far, for which she was exceedingly grateful. While she was in some pain, there was nothing overtly debilitating or life threatening.

She looked up when the door opened, expecting to be once again disturbed by the staff, but instead a smile lit her face. Andy stepped into the room carrying a tray with two, steaming cups of coffee from their favorite all night cafe, and a brown paper bag that if she was not mistaken, also contained breakfast. While Gavin had promised to feed her when he arrived, she was far more touched by this gesture.

Sharon put her phone down as he approached. "You are up entirely too early," she told him. "_What_ are you doing here? It's not even five yet."

"Well, if I wanted to see you before going to work, I thought I'd better get here early." He pulled the hospital tray over and set the coffee on it, along with the takeout bag. Then Andy shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it across the back of the chair near her bed. Then he bent over the side of her bed, one hand was braced against the bed rail while the other slipped into her hair. He tipped her head back and traced her bottom lip with his thumb before lowering a kiss to her lips.

She hummed in approval and delight. She touched the tips of her fingers to his jaw, and leaned toward him as the kiss lingered. Warmth spread through her, chasing away the chill of the too sterile hospital room. Her lips curved into a smile when he leaned back. "Hi."

"Hi." He kissed the tip of her nose before drawing the chair closer and sitting in it. Andy reached for her coffee and handed it to her. "Double shot, skim milk, extra foam."

"Hm." She moaned happily while inhaling the aroma. "You are wonderful. I take back every report I ever wrote about you." Sharon lifted the head of the bed a bit more and shifted, getting more comfortable. "What's in the bag…"

She could be rather adorable when she was wheedling. Andy grinned at her, but opened it slowly. He took out two styrofoam cartons. One of which was laid in front of her, along with plastic wrapped cutlery. "I thought you might actually be hungry by now."

"Maybe." Sharon lifted the lid, carefully. She laughed when saw the contents. It was the egg white vegetable omelet and whole wheat toast that she always ordered when they had breakfast together. She pushed the lid completely open and then smiled up at him. "I adore you."

"Good to know," he winked at her. He sat back with his own breakfast, which was a little less healthy. Vegetarian omelet and breakfast potatoes, with regular toast. "Speaking of being up early," He arched a brow at her. "Did you sleep at all?"

"More or less," she made a face. "Between being awakened by the lovely staff here. I'm wondering who I'll need to bribe to let me go home today. If I'm going to be stuck in a bed I want my own."

Andy frowned at that. "Rushing it a bit, aren't you?" He studied her closely, she was a bit frayed around the edges, it was the pain, he knew. She was less glassy than she had been the previous evening. That meant she was laying off the pain medication, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. "Sharon, you were just in a pretty significant car accident. You might want to give it a day or two before you actually start bullying the staff to release you."

"I wouldn't say bully." Her nose wrinkled. "What am I going to do here that I can't do at home?" She shrugged. "It's a leg, not a head injury. I'm okay," she said. "Honestly, Andy, it hurts, yes… but none of my injuries were in anyway significant. I'll rest much better at home." She pouted at him for good measure.

"It's not me that you've got to sell it to," he shook his head at her. Andy flashed a crooked grin. "I get what you're saying. No one can rest in a hospital, but if they say no, then they say no. Okay?"

She sighed. "Agreed." Sharon reached for her fork and took a bite. "Good thing people have a hard time saying no to me…"

Andy snorted. "Lady, you are something."

"Yes." Her face lit, eyes warm and a bright smile curving her lips again. "But you love me for it."

He looked up, face softening into a smile. "I do," he agreed. Then he pointed his fork at her. "Eat."

Her lips pursed, her head tilted. "I think I like you bossy," she drawled.

Andy changed his mind. Perhaps she was still a bit high from the pain medication. He couldn't help but grin at her. "So the kids are coming by later this morning?"

"Yes," she practically moaned her relief. "With a change of clothes, a few toiletries, and something to keep me from going out of my mind with boredom. Although, I'm a bit more concerned with how they made out last night. I was almost tempted to have Lieutenant Provenza take Rusty home with him, leave the kids with the condo, but…"

"They've got to get used to each other at some point," Andy pointed out. "Maybe a little forced togetherness is just what they need. The older two didn't seem so bad," he added. "They managed to put on a pretty good show at getting you to not worry about them."

"Which will never happen," Sharon shook her head. "I appreciated the effort, but I had hoped to acclimate Rusty with them in stages. One at a time, and with limited exposure. Together they can be… a little exuberant."

"A little?" Andy inclined his head at her. "If that was your definition of a little, then it will be interesting to see what they're like when they really get going."

She laughed. "They were both surprising well behaved, actually." She shook head. "No, they're good kids, both of them. It's just that… everything that's happened lately, with Rusty's mother and now Jack. He's not feeling as secure as I'd like. His mother really shook him up, and he was just starting to deal with that when Jack decided to be the ass that he is. I know that it will work out, and Rusty will be okay, but…"

"You worry." Andy smiled gently at her. "I know, but like you said, Sharon. They're good kids. They are the people that you raised them to be, and I think, between the two of them and Rusty… it will be okay. Let them figure this out. You concentrate on getting well. Stop taking care of everyone around you for a little while, and maybe, let us take care of you."

"I will do my best." She smiled warmly at him. She really did adore him. Sharon concentrated on her breakfast for a moment, and then she added… "But if I'm at home, you can take care of me better."

"Good grief woman," he laughed. It was no more than he expected of her. She was stubborn, there was no doubt about that. He loved everything about her, even when she was being willful. Andy gazed at her, with her eyes sparkling, and her cheeks flushed with amusement, even bruised she was absolutely beautiful. "I'll make you a deal, the minute you're released, I will personally drive you home and tuck you into bed."

She pointed her fork at him. "I will take that deal." That was more incentive than ever to get herself released. At least in her own bed there was more room for her to curl up in his arms. "Keep that phone at the ready, Lieutenant, I plan to be out of here by noon."

Somehow, Andy decided that he wouldn't put it past her.


	8. Chapter 8

Unwritten - Chapter 8

by Kadi  
Rated: M

* * *

Persuasive and willful though she could be, neither trait was needed. When the attending physician rounded on Sharon at mid-morning, he agreed that the severity of her injuries did not warrant another evening spent in the hospital. She was responding well to medication and tolerating pain. He wrote the orders to send her home. The unfortunate part came with the size of a facility like Cedars Sinai. It was early evening before she was finally processed out of the hospital with all of the paperwork, followup appointments, and prescriptions that she would need for the coming days and weeks.

True to his word, Andy stepped away from the ongoing case to drive her home. They were still working on a suspect list and his presence wasn't necessarily important. When they arrived at the condo, he tossed the crutches she had been given to Rusty. "Won't be needing those." Andy slipped an arm beneath her legs and lifted her easily. His back and knees would be protesting by the time he got her inside, but her weight was slight enough that he held her easily. She might seem larger than life, but physically she was a rather small woman.

"You are going to hurt yourself," Sharon chuckled, even as she wrapped her arms around him to distribute her weight more evenly. The stitches in her side pulled, painfully, and her leg was throbbing. There wasn't really any part of her that didn't currently ache in some way or another, but she'd been given pain medication before leaving the hospital. Ricky had stopped to have her prescriptions filled, and Emily had gone ahead of them to take the rest of her things inside. Rusty stood nearby, face still bruised, stiff and sore in his own right but in one piece and rolling his eyes at them. Given the alternative, she would take a few aches and pains.

"If I did, it would give me an excuse to stay home with you all day." Andy shifted her in his arms and then followed Rusty into the building. He was careful, as he moved through the door leading in from the parking garage, not to bump her injured leg. "I'm imagining the look on Provenza's face, and that alone would be worth it."

She giggled. "Yes, I suppose he would be quite put out with us. Entertaining as it is, I don't think we'd be able to sell it to Taylor." They were already working under a microscope. The Assistant Chief had agreed to allow them to _continue_ for the moment, but would be watching them. Fact was, they were senior members of the unit, and entirely too good at their jobs. That he hadn't even suspected the _possibility_ of a relationship between them prior to it being reported was evidence of their ability to act discreetly. In short, as long as they behaved, so too would he.

Sharon did not trust him for even a moment. If provoked or given opportunity, she knew that he would use that knowledge against them. However Taylor may seem, one could never forget that underneath it all he was an ambitious snake and not above stepping on others to get what he wanted. His allegiances could shift with the wind. Still, the rules needed to be followed, and by doing so they'd given him less ammunition to use against them. With the relationship reported to her superior and the Professional Standards Bureau they were, in some small measure, protected. So long as they remained discreet and professional. It would not be easy. It was, however, worth it.

Andy sniffed as they approached the elevator. "Taylor can kiss my—"

"Andy." Sharon shook her head at him. Her eyes crinkled at the corners and she smiled at him.

"What? Is he here?" He smirked at her. "You know that I could really give a damn." Andy sighed, shook his head. When the elevator opened, they stepped inside. He moved into the back corner with her, while Rusty hit the button for the eleventh floor.

"I know." She swept a hand through his hair. "I also know why, and I understand it. It's just that appearances are—"

"Important." He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know." He exhaled again, his thumb stroked her back. "Don't have to like it."

"No," she placed a kiss against the corner of his mouth. "You don't."

Rusty rolled his eyes at them. "Could he really do anything? It's not like you've done anything wrong. I mean, not like you've been making out in Sharon's office." He stopped, screwed up his face and shuddered. "At least, god I hope not."

Her eyes closed. Sharon sighed. "Rusty." She slanted a look at him and shook her head. "No, we have not. To answer your question, we need to tread carefully. If given motive, Chief Taylor could choose to reassign, fire or forcibly retire one or both of us. Something that neither of us would like to have happen."

"Yeah." Andy drawled, a crooked grin on his face. "But damn.. you know, that desk…"

"_Andy_!" Sharon smacked his shouldered, albeit lightly. Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of read, her eyes were wide. She shook her head at him. "No."

He looked at her, dark eyes sparkling. "Too late, the idea is planted." He grinned again, waggled his brows at her.

While Rusty groaned, slapped his palm against his forehead, Sharon lowered her face to his shoulder. "Oh god," she murmured.

The elevator came to a stop and the door opened, Andy stepped through with her. He chuckled as he made the turn toward her apartment. "Yeah, but you've got a desk at home too…"

"Okay!" Rusty moved quickly past them. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding it. "I'm going to go and lock myself in my room now, just for the record, and try to burn those images _out _of my head."

"You are incorrigible," Sharon said, through clenched teeth. She smacked his shoulder again and shook her head at him.

"That's what you like about me," He pointed out with a smirk.

"I'm beginning to wonder." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Bed's turned back," Emily announced. "Mom, I laid your favorite sweater on the end of your bed, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to try sweats or shorts, so I put out both."

"Thank you, honey." Sharon smiled at her. "Andy…" She wouldn't ask him to take her to bed, not while he was in his current mood. She didn't think Rusty could take anymore of his sense of humor.

"You got it." He smirked at her, but refrained. Despite popular opinion, he could behave himself. Occasionally.

"Here." Rusty thrust the crutches he was carrying at Emily. "You take them in there for her. I'm… really not going anywhere near a bedroom with those two."

The girl snickered. "Bad were they?" She shook her head. She accepted them. "Okay, go bury your head in something." Emily trailed along behind her mother and Andy. "Mom, he's blushing. I'm so proud of you."

She sighed. "Leave Rusty alone, _both_ of you."

"Where is the fun in that," Andy asked. He winked at her and carried her into the bedroom. He settled her on the edge of the bed and then took the crutches from Emily.

She looked between the two of them and then rolled her eyes. "Right. Because I don't want to see it either." Emily turned on her heel and left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

With her lips pursed, Sharon tilted her head and stared across the room, at nothing. "I could have been a cat woman," she mused. "A lonely, childless, cat woman." Her gaze shifted to Andy and her brow arched. "Don't you think?"

"Not a chance." He bent, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. "You adore them, even when they're rotten brats."

"Yes," she agreed with a smile. "I really do." Sharon tipped her face up and kissed him back. "How much longer do I have you for?"

"Provenza will call if I'm needed," Andy knelt in front of her, and only winced slightly at the protest his knees gave. He settled his hands on her thighs, stroked gently. For the ride home, she'd worn a pair of loose fitting running pants. "We're going through financials, putting together suspect list. They won't be missing me right now." Andy shrugged, "Day is almost over anyway. What do you need?"

"Hm." She rested her arms on his shoulders, ran her fingers through his short-cropped, silver hair. Sharon gave him an almost wistful smile. "A bath would be wonderful, a shower might be easier." She fluttered her lashes at him and drew her bottom lip between her teeth. Had it only been a day since they crossed that line of intimacy? It felt _almost_ strange asking him to help her, but Emily was too slight to hold her up and the boys were out of the question. Although if she were honest with herself, she would admit that it was the fact she was asking for help at all that felt odd to her.

"I think we can handle that." He stood up, knees creaking. His thumb stroked her cheek. A soft kiss was brushed across her lips. Her hesitation was cute, but unnecessary. "I'm always here," he said quietly.

"I know," she whispered. Just in case she needed him. She cupped his cheek for a moment, and let her hand fall away when he turned. She watched him walk into the bathroom and when the shower turned on, she sighed in relief. She was almost desperate to wash away the last day, along with the antiseptic smell of the hospital that seemed to linger on her skin and in her hair.

When Andy returned he helped her undress, and then lifted her into his arms again to carry her into the bathroom. It took some maneuvering but it wasn't the only broken bone or injury that had ever been experienced by either of them. They wrapped her leg in plastic, securing it just above her knee to keep the brace and cast dry. The shower was, thankfully, large enough for both of them. The glass enclosed structure gave them freedom of movement, although not a lot. It wasn't without some wincing on Sharon's part, and laughter from both of them but they managed it. In the end, Andy stripped down and joined her.

She balanced on her good leg and braced herself with her hand pressed against the wall of the shower. With her head tipped back, she moaned quietly as his hands worked shampoo into her scalp and through her hair. Getting clean again was quite possibly the most wonderful feeling in the world, surpassed only by the gentleness with which he handled her. After rinsing her hair, his hands slid over her body, and there was not an inch of her, save her leg, that was not cleansed of the previous day's events.

The way he touched her was hardly clinical in his approach, but neither was it designed to arouse. He used the removable shower head to rinse the soap from her body, just as he'd done from her hair. Afterward, with the hot spray still raining down on both of them, he curled an arm around her waist and drew her back against him. The other wrapped around her shoulders, so that she was held securely in his embrace.

A sigh passed her lips. Her arms covered his, where he now held her, supporting all of her weight. Her head rested against his shoulder, and the feel of his lips against her neck brought a smile to her own. She felt a tremor run through him, and that was something that she understood all too well.

It was still so very new, this relationship, this _love_. Yet it had almost been lost, and in the most mundane way possible. They worried, every day, about each other, and the other members of their team. They constantly walked into dangerous situations. How many times had they been shot at? How often had they almost lost their lives in the line of duty? No one had asked her, and she would lie if they did, but it was hard… sending him out there, knowing that might be it, knowing that might be the last time that she saw him alive. It was something she had to live with, to accept, if she was going to be with him. And wasn't _this_ worth fighting for? Wasn't _this_ worth a little fear and doubt, just to have these quiet moments together?

Such a simple thing, to be held. To feel protected, and to feel loved. The words made her heart soar, even if they'd been prompted by the accident. It was something that needed to be said between them, even if just the once given all that happened. What existed between them, however, was more than words. There was always something there, even when they could hardly look at each other. Chemistry, attraction, she didn't know what to call it. What she did know was that the opposite of love was not hate, it was indifference. There was one thing that she and Andy Flynn had never been and that was indifferent toward one another.

Now, in her steam encased shower, water pounding at his back, and his arms around her, she wondered if perhaps this had been inevitable. She was not a romantic. She was a realist. Sharon also wondered if perhaps she was still a little loopy. Whatever it was, she was moved almost to tears by the movement of his lips against her neck, and then her ear. Eyes still closed, she tilted her head toward him.

Love. Affection. They were not emotions measured in words, but rather, by expression. He didn't have to speak it for her to know it.

Sharon lifted her head, turned toward him and found his lips with hers. The kiss was gentle, and it lingered between them for a moment. She felt the curving of his mouth toward a smile. Her eyes opened and she found him looking at her, emotion reflected in his dark eyes. She exhaled quietly. "Will you stay tonight?" She knew that her kids were there, and that it would be a bit crowded, perhaps even awkward, but she wanted him near. They hadn't often had opportunity to spend the night together. She wanted, if the case permitted, to fall asleep and wake up in his arms.

"Even if I have to turn my phone off," he rumbled quietly, and with a smile. He kissed the side of her head, held her tighter. "Okay?" She seemed a bit vulnerable, though he knew she would be reluctant to admit it. He wondered if it was the accident or all this recent trouble with Jack. It was, Andy thought, probably a combination of the two. The confrontation with Jack had opened old wounds, brought up old memories, and the accident had left her rattled enough that it was pushing through her usual level of control.

"Okay." Her lips brushed the curve of his jaw. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Love you," he answered. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

Andy reached back and shut the shower off. He kept an arm around her as he pushed open the door and then maneuvered her so that she could hang on to the frame. He stepped out first, dried quickly and draped a towel around his waist. Then he reached for her, propped her against the vanity, and was much more careful and deliberate as he ran a towel over her body. The wet plastic around her injured leg was discarded. When he'd finished, he wrapped a towel around her body and another around her hair before lifting her into his arms again.

Sharon was carried to her bed and he set her on the edge. Her favorite sweater was a soft, baggy garment in lilac. He helped her into it and a pair of soft gym shorts. While he dressed, pulling his suit back on, she dealt with her hair. She decided to towel dry it, and then allow it to curl. She didn't have the energy to blow-dry or straighten it. She pulled half of it back and secured it in a clip. Then, with a sigh, she pushed herself back on the bed and reclined against the waiting pillows. She hated to admit it, but she was utterly exhausted. Her body had begun to throb again. Sharon closed her eyes and breathed through the onslaught.

Andy left his tie and jacket draped across the chair at her dressing table. "I'll see if Ricky is back with your meds," he told her. He reached out and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Sharon?"

"Hm." She nodded. "Yes, that would be good." Sharon opened her eyes, smiled up at him.

There was pain clouding her eyes, and fatigue. Andy stroked her cheek again, thumb tracing the cut, gently, and hardly touching it at all. "I'll only be a minute. Rest." He stepped away from her finally and ran a hand over his damp hair as he moved out of the room and down the hall. Andy found that Ricky had returned, and with more than his mother's medication. He and Emily were in the kitchen organizing something that looked like it might be dinner.

"Roast." Ricky shrugged. "It's her favorite. I thought maybe a little comfort food would be a good idea. Rusty said you're a vegetarian, so I got extra vegetables and some wild rice…" It was a little weird, relying on the younger _brother_ he didn't know to pick out food for the _boyfriend_ that he also didn't know, so that they could make dinner for their mother and maybe help her feel a little better. Actually, the word awkward didn't exactly cover it.

"Sounds good." Andy took the pharmacy bag from the counter. "I think she'll like that. She really likes the baby—"

"Carrots," Ricky finished with a half grin. "Yeah, I know."

"Right." The two men stared at each other for a moment.

"Hm." Emily moved around behind him, arms crossed over her chest. She leaned a hip against the counter, head tilted. "So, what exactly are your intentions toward our mother?"

Andy's brows lifted. He reached into the fridge for a chilled bottle of water and shook his head at her. "Nice try little Sharon, but that is between your mother and I." He winked at her, and grinned before stepping past her to return to the bedroom.

Rusty snorted. He was seated at the bar, working his way through a soda. "You know, she doesn't like meddling."

"Nope." Emily smirked. "It had to be asked."

Ricky laughed. "Gotta give the old guy points though." He finished unloading the groceries and then stepped back. "So… um…" He looked at the other two. "Who is going to cook it?"

"Oh for crying out loud." Emily took his arm and pushed him out of the kitchen. "Go find a video game or something."

"I'll help." Rusty snickered as he slid off his stool and moved into the kitchen.

Emily's eyes narrowed. "Do you actually cook?"

Instead of answering, Rusty reached over and turned the oven on. Then he reached into the cupboard beneath the stove to pull out the deep, roasting pan that Sharon typically used. He arched a brow at her and smirked. "A little."

"Good." Emily took the bag of onions and tossed them at him. "Slice those up and I'll tell you about the time Ricky singed off his eyebrows."

"His eyebrows?" Rusty's eyes widened. "How did he do that?"

Emily flashed a devious grin. "He wanted s'mores…"

"I see you made it back in one piece," Sharon's eyes opened again at the sound of her bedroom door closing behind him.

"It was a near thing." He rattled the bag at her and carried it over. Andy sat on the edge of her bed and opened it for her. Each of the bottles was set on the bedside table. There was an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory and the pain medication. "They're making you dinner. Listen, I'm going to run out for a while." He reached out and swept her hair over her shoulder. "I'm going to swing by my place and grab some stuff, check in at the office. I shouldn't be gone long."

"Okay." She sat up on the bed, accepted the bottle of water from him. "These make me sleep," she indicated the pain pills. "I'll be alright."

"Sure?" When she hummed and offered a nod, he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. "I'll only be an hour, at the most. You won't even know I'm gone."

"I doubt that." Her hand slid up his arm. Her gaze held a wealth of meaning. "Go, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere. Hello my bed, how much I've missed you," she drawled with a grin.

Andy chuckled quietly. He waited for her to take her medication before standing. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Get some rest, Sharon."

"Aye, aye," she sketched off a playful salute and leaned back again.

He laughed again. "You know, you're kind of cute when you're loopy."

"Shh," she made a face at him and let her eyes close again. "You'll ruin my reputation. Darth Raydor is in absolutely no way _cute_."

"Sweetheart, your reputation is above reproach, believe me." Andy headed for the door. He paused there and glanced back again. Although she hadn't replied, there was a smile curving her lips. He shook his head and slipped out of the room again. He headed down the hall, his jacket tossed over his arm. "Hey kids, she's probably going to sleep for a while." His gaze swept all three of them, but came to a stop on Rusty, the one that he knew. "I'm going to swing over to my place, check on some things. I'll be back. Hour, tops. Can you keep an eye on her?"

Rusty grinned because the idea of anyone _keeping an eye_ on Sharon was a little bit funny. "Sure, Lieutenant. No problem."

"Good." He started toward the door and stopped. "Oh, and Rusty, at some point, maybe you can just call me Andy."

The boy hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. A small smile played at his lips. "Yeah, I'll work on that one."

After he left, Emily leaned over and nudged him. "Aww, that's so sweet," she teased.

"Shut up." Rusty nudged her back.

Emily continued to snicker. "You know, I think I like not being the youngest anymore. I could get used to this."

Rusty sighed, feigning exasperation. "Great. You know, I know a guy you could talk to. About these delusions of yours. He's pretty cool. I call him Doctor Joe."

"Hm." Her lips pursed. Her eyes narrowed as she considered him. "You know," Emily finally said. "I think I'm going to like you, Rusty Beck."

"I can't begin to tell you how much that means to me," He deadpanned, but his eyes were sparkling.

"Now, now, behave." Ricky called, smirking at the pair of them. "Don't make me come in there."

The two of them glanced at one another. Emily's brow arched. "You know, Richard, the fact that you were born first does not make you special."

"Nope," Rusty continued. "It just makes you… old."

Emily nodded. "Indeed."

"Maybe." He leaned back on the sofa and got comfortable. "But firstborn sets the standards for which the two of you will be measured."

"You have a card for this guy?" Emily asked. "I think Ricky needs him."

"I'll text you his number." Rusty turned back to the onions he was slicing. He had decided that the three of them were not all so dissimilar. They each had parental abandonment issues. His mom, their dad. But they'd all also had something else, to make that better, they'd had Sharon. Rusty was starting to look forward to being adopted. _Really_ look forward to it. The idea of having a family, even if it wasn't just him and Sharon, he was beginning to realize wasn't such a weird, abstract thing. It was kind of nice.

After dinner, while Andy and Ricky cleaned up in the kitchen and Emily stepped out onto the balcony to call her boyfriend back east, Rusty made his way down the hall to check on Sharon. The door was open, and he knocked quietly as he poked his head inside. "Hey."

Sharon had her computer on her lap. She looked up at him and smiled, then glanced toward the hall. "Don't tell?"

"Secret is safe with me," he grinned.

She smiled brightly at him, but closed the laptop and placed it beside her on the bed. "Everything okay?" Rusty seemed pensive. She waved him into the room. Her eyes followed him as he walked over and took a seat on the cushioned bench at the foot of her bed.

"I think I'm supposed to ask you that," he said. Rusty pulled the beige throw blanket that was usually folded across the bench into his lap and picked at it. "I guess I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh Rusty." She smiled gently at him. "Honey, I'm okay. It hurts, but physical injuries heal. In a few weeks I will be perfectly fine." She clasped her hands in her lap and tilted her head at him. "It's been quite a couple of weeks though, hasn't it? Your mom, and then Jack, and now this… Things will settle down soon, I think."

"I hope so." He smiled at her. "I don't think either one of us could take much more." They shared a grin and then he looked down again. "So, I also had a question. Did you still _want_ to do the adoption thing? I mean, I wasn't even supposed to know about it. If Jack hadn't said anything, then I never would—"

"Absolutely." Sharon cut him off before he could get too worked up about it. She realized now what he was worried about. The accident had rattled him. It was understandable, she was plenty rattled herself. "Rusty, the only reason I didn't tell you was because I didn't have all the facts. I wasn't sure what the process would be or how simple or difficult Jack was going to make it. It's not a process that I would have started if I didn't genuinely want to do it, if I wasn't committed to seeing it through. I think the question that should be asked is if this is what _you_ want." Sharon studied him closely, but her eyes were warm and her smile gentle. "Rusty, you are always going to have a place with me. This is always going to be your home, I don't need a piece of paper to know what is in my heart. As far as I am concerned you are as much my son as Ricky is. I may not have given birth to you, and I might not have raised you, but you're here now and that's all that matters. The adoption simply provides a legal standing for me to act as your mother…" Sharon paused. "Or for you to act as my son. But only in so much as you want to. If you don't, that is okay too. I'm not going to stop loving you."

He continued to look down, the blanket suddenly the most interesting object in the world. Rusty chewed on the inside of his lip when it threatened to tremble. When he did finally look up at her, his eyes were moist. "I already have a mom," he pointed out.

"I know," she said gently. Not that she would ever classify Sharon Beck as such, but those were thoughts that she kept to herself.

Rusty nodded slowly. "I just…" He stopped for a moment. "I never had a mother before." He gazed at her, twisted the blanket around his fingers. "Until now."

Her jaw clenched. Sharon looked away when her vision grew blurry. She cleared her throat and wet her lips. "Yes," she said thickly. She drug her teeth across her bottom lip and smiled at him, eyes bright.

"I guess I just feel like," Rusty continued, "maybe you're right. Maybe this is something that we should do. I wouldn't mind," he added in a softer voice. "It's okay if we don't, because I get it. I'm not going anywhere either. But I would kind of really like it."

"Okay." Sharon nodded once. "Then we will make it happen. I won't even make you have to sound like a horrible cartoon character," she promised.

"You know, that might not be so bad either." Rusty stood up, placed the blanket back on the bench. "I mean, I hope you don't, but I could stand it."

Sharon laughed. There was the teenager she knew and loved. "I'll talk to Gavin about it. We'll do our best."

"Good." Rusty moved closer to her side of the bed, hovered a moment. "I'm really glad you're okay, Sharon."

She beckoned him down, wrapped him in a tight hug. "The one thing that I am thankful for is that you were not hurt," she murmured. "The rest does not matter Rusty, you being safe is what matters to me."

"I know." He hugged her as tightly as he dared, not wanting to hurt her. "I love you." He really had only said it once, maybe twice before. It wasn't something he admitted often. The people he loved had hurt him in the past, all except for Sharon.

"Hm." She lay her cheek against the side of his head. "I know," she whispered. When he pulled back, she cupped his chin. "I love you, too, Rusty." He pulled away and gave her a watery smile. Then he made quick his exit. Sharon leaned her head back and rested it against the pillows piled behind her. She heard the door across the hall close and knew that he'd gone to his room. The more her boy changed and grew, the more he stayed the same. She closed her eyes and hummed quietly. She fought the moisture threatening to escape and had to smile again. They were very much the same, in so many ways.

Andy found her still laying in the same position sometime later. Her pushed her door closed with a quiet click and toed out of his shoes before crossing the room. He lifted the computer with a smirk and set it on the dresser before he sank onto the bed beside her. "Busted," he mumbled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She said, without opening her eyes. The corners of her mouth twitched. "I was reading. iBook app, it's a wonderful thing." A hand slid across her belly and she sighed quietly, in approval.

"So if I check, I'm not going to find an open case file?" Andy was careful of her leg as he settled beside her. His lips brushed her cheek and then her ear.

"Nuh uh," she grunted with a smile, but they both knew that she was lying. She lay her arm over his and wriggled further down in the pillows, and closer to him.

"Okay?" When she nodded, he lay his head near hers, lips at her shoulder. He let his eyes drift closed. He decided that if he spent the rest of his life doing nothing else, he would want it to be this.

"Me too," she murmured, and turned her head toward him. She rested her lips against the top of his head.

It surprised him, but then he realized he must have spoken the thought out loud. Andy glanced up at her, but rather than be embarrassed, he simply smiled. They gazed at one another, then he tipped his face up and pressed a light kiss to her mouth. It was gratifying to know that they were on the same page. They were both thinking about a future, and at least they were both imagining that it would include each other.


	9. Chapter 9

Unwritten - Chapter 9

by Kadi  
Rated: M

* * *

Richard and Emily stayed through the weekend, but by Monday they both had to return to their respective homes. The condo was a lot quieter without them, and though they were missed, there was a certain relief that came with having life return to normal.

Sharon found that recovering from the accident was a process. The bruises and cuts healed, and as the days passed, the cut on her cheek became a very faint, pink line. It was easily covered by makeup and was not going to leave a scar. As she moved through the first week following the accident, her body was less stiff. The muscles didn't ache so keenly and once the stitches were out of her side, she could move much more easily.

The leg, however, remained an issue. While the break was healing as it should, it was the injury to her knee that provided cause for displeasure. Physical therapy was not in anyway fun. She started that a week after her surgery. Sharon was convinced that her therapist was an evil, sadistic witch. Although the therapy regimen was targeted specifically for her knee and range of motion there, she left each session with her entire leg throbbing.

As such, two days a week, Sharon was not in the least pleasant to be around. Rusty learned, quickly, to avoid her for at least an hour after she completed those appointments. Andy gritted his teeth through the worst of her bad moods and reminded himself that he was not always pleasant to be around either.

Two weeks after the accident, Sharon was back at work, albeit for only half of the day on those which were PT days. Since she worked the mornings and had PT in the afternoon, the team was at least spared her bad mood.

Jackson Raydor was not so lucky.

He made the mistake of dropping by one afternoon, after a physical therapy appointment. Sharon glowered at him upon opening the door. She was tempted to slam it in his face. Instead, she turned away and hobbled back toward the sofa on her crutches. "Whatever it is that you want, Jack, I am neither in the mood, nor do I have the time."

Her biting tone set his teeth on edge. "I have your damned papers." Jack waved the folder at her. "I've decided to sign the damned things, but on one condition." He pointed it at her. "You call off that bulldog that you call a lawyer. I'll give you the divorce you want, but I'm not paying a single dime. We call it done, and we walk away."

"Yes, because that's what you're good at." Sharon balanced against the crutches and shot a dark look at him. "I don't know that I accept those terms, Jack. What's the matter, finally realized the magnitude of your very many mistakes? Frankly, I think it's time that I stopped footing the bill for your life style. It would be nice to have you support me for once. Actually, it would have been nice to have you support me _at all_."

"Oh, that's funny Sharon." He glared back at her. "That's really funny coming from you. Believe me, sweetheart, you don't want to have that argument."

"Don't I?" His condescending tone did nothing to assuage her building temper. Her eyes narrowed, they flashed with fury. Her voice lowered, dropping an octave. She took a step toward him. Her hands clenched so tightly around the handles of her crutches that her knuckles ached. "I graduated in the top ten percent of my class at Berkley," she stated. "I already had my acceptance to Law School. The _only_ reason I didn't go was because one of us had to work, and you were already in your first year. That was the first sacrifice that I made for you." She pointed a finger at him. "I wanted to stay home with Ricky when he was born, but you couldn't find a job. You swore to me that I'd be able to take time off to be with the baby, that you'd find something even if it was mowing lawns, and instead, you started staying out all night with your drinking buddies."

"Sharon—"

"No." She cut him off. Her voice shook with the force of emotion. "You swore that you would do better, that we would be better when I got pregnant with Emily. You promised me, Jack, that everything would be okay. But how long were you screwing around on me before you walked out the door? You left, Jack. You walked out on us. You left me with a four year old and an eighteen month old so that you could run off to Los Vegas with your girlfriend. As if that wasn't bad enough, you took every penny that we had. I spent the next ten years of my life paying off your debts and untangling our finances so that I would be able to provide some kind of future for our children." Her jaw clenched. There were tears in her eyes and the fact that she was shaking only made her body throb that much more. "The drinking, the gambling, the women. But you've had the nerve all these years to say that you're the one that's had to put up with the bullshit? No, Jack. You do not get to be the injured party." Sharon shook her head at him. "You didn't want me. You didn't want our kids. Sometimes, I don't even know why you bothered getting married in the first place."

"Hell, Sharon." He threw his hands up. "I never thought you'd say yes."

Whatever anger she felt dissipated. The air rushed out of her lungs. She turned away from him. "Leave them and go." She hobbled toward the hall, intent on getting away from him and locking herself in her room. "You're absolutely right. It never should have started to begin with. Let's just call it over and be done with it."

"Dammit," He ran a hand through his hair. "Sharon, I didn't mean it like that."

"You never do. Just go, Jack. I'm tired, I'd really like to rest now. You can leave the papers by the sofa." She didn't look at him, she wouldn't. He wasn't going to have the satisfaction of seeing how much he had hurt her.

He watched her retreat down the hall and sighed again. "Shit." Jack closed his eyes. He really hadn't meant it the way that it sounded. No, he never expected that Sharon would say yes to his marriage proposal. She'd had so much in front of her, he never really thought that she'd want _him_ of all people. But she had… and they'd gotten married, and then… it had just gone to hell. All of it. He had loved her. But the life they'd had, the life she wanted, it just wasn't something he had been able to conform to. Jack slapped the folder holding the signed divorce papers against the side of the couch. "Idiot." He never had been able to do the right thing where she was concerned.

She was right, however. It was over now. Long over, if he was honest about it. He tossed the folder onto the table by the sofa and turned away. Jack let himself out of the apartment. He'd let her have the damned divorce. At least this way, they could just walk away… and what meager savings he was putting together could remain his own.

Once inside her room, Sharon pushed the door closed behind her. She made her way to the bed and let the crutches fall to the floor beside it as she sank onto the mattress. She reached for one of the many pillows piled against the headboard and hugged it to her chest. She bent, pressed her face against it and tried simply to breathe. The pain in her chest was such that she could hardly draw a breath. A deep, ragged sob was wrenched from her as the pain found purchase to break through her resolve. A part of her wondered how it was that she could love one man so deeply, and still somehow be hurt by the other?

Sharon lay sideways on the bed and drew her knees toward her chest. Oddly, the pain in her injured leg no longer seemed to matter quite so much.

She was still laying in that position, curled across the bottom of her bed when Andy arrived. He brought takeout on evenings she had therapy and carried it into the kitchen before he went in search of her. He expected that he would find her in the bedroom, and with any luck, she would be resting after the painful session. When he stepped into the room, he moved first to the dresser and discarded his badge and gun. Then he shrugged out of his jacket and loosened his tie. Both were tossed across the chair at the dressing table before he moved to the bed. "Hey…" His greeting trailed off when he saw her face. "Sharon?"

She was staring ahead now, at the wall, not really seeing it. She had managed to cry herself out some time ago, but the evidence was written across her face in the red eyes and streaked makeup. She closed her eyes for just a moment before lifting them toward him. "Hey," her mouth managed to form a weak smile.

He frowned as he moved onto the bed with her. He lay across the mattress behind her and pulled her around to face him. "What happened?" Andy swept her hair back from her face, traced the curve of her cheek.

Sharon tossed the pillow aside in favor of moving into his arms. She shook her head and tucked her face against his chest. Her hands curled into his shirt and she settled against him. A long, soft sigh was slowly exhaled. "Jack," she managed after a moment.

His hands moved slowly up and down her back. Andy's jaw clenched. It was anger, and not jealousy that had his knuckles itching in remembered sensation. "You spoke to him?" He tried to sound neutral and knew that he failed. Whatever the son of a bitch had done or said, he'd managed to hurt her… again.

"He was here." She tipped her head back and looked up at him. "He brought the papers. He signed them, and agreed to the no-contest under the condition that Gavin backs off and we just call it finished. It's exactly what we expected would happen. We said some things, and it's stupid really. It's completely ridiculous that he can still hurt me, even after all these years. The worst part is that I keep opening myself up to it."

"You loved him, and a part of you still does." He shrugged. "Thirty years of marriage and two kids, even if it was a crap marriage, is hard to erase completely. Divorce is hard, even when it's twenty years past due." He lifted a hand and slid it into the thick curtain of her hair. His thumb stroked the curve of her cheek again. "It will be over soon enough, you can move on."

The way he looked at her, the way he held her. Somehow it managed to chase away all the darkness and the hurt. "I already have," she said quietly. Her fingers rested against his jaw. "I have you."

"Yeah," he said, a bit gruffly. "And that's not gonna change."

"Hm." She tucked her face against his chest again, felt his arms tighten around her. "Why couldn't it be you," she asked, wishing they'd had this sooner.

His heart twisted. "Because I was the drunk sitting at the bar with Jack when he should have been with you," he reminded her, with no small amount of regret.

She lifted her head and moved onto her elbow. Sharon leaned over him. "Yes." She was reminded that it was their pasts that had shaped them, molded them until they fit so well together now. Maybe, having found each other sooner, it wouldn't have worked. The past could not be rewritten, they simply wouldn't know. Her hand cupped his cheek. "You're here now," she said.

"Yes." His hand moved into her hair again, cupped the back of her head. "So are you." As she leaned toward him, he pulled her down, met the kiss that was placed against his mouth. She tasted of the salt of her tears. Andy rolled her onto her back and leaned over her. He was careful of her leg as he draped himself across her body and held her head between his hands. She gazed back at him, the emotion and longing in her eyes had a tremor running down his back. His breath caught. "Are you sure?"

"You won't hurt me," she said, and that admission went well beyond the physical. He'd held her, but hardly _touched_ her at all since the accident. They weren't children anymore, they could restrain themselves. It had been a few weeks now, and suddenly, after the unpleasantness with Jack, she needed him more than she could say. Perhaps to remind herself that she could be loved, or simply to just to feel something other than the pain that ugliness had caused. She couldn't really say, but it was Andy that she wanted, Andy that she needed. It was Andy that she loved.

"No," He lowered his head, brushed her lips with his. "I can't promise that. All I can promise is that I do love you, and I'll work like hell to fix whatever I break." Their noses touched, and he felt the dampness of her tears as they began anew. Andy swept them away with his thumbs, chased the salty drops with his lips. "Sharon…"

"I love you." The words had been scarce since just after the accident, but she was ready to say them again, and to keep saying them. "And that is _why_ I love you. It's why I know that you would _never_ hurt me." She slipped her arms around him and sought his mouth with hers. "Love me," she whispered.

"Always." His hands moved down her body, sliding over familiar curves. He offered her the touch she craved, providing entirely new reasons for her to tremble and shudder beneath him. He reminded himself of his earlier resolve, that she would always know that she was loved.

It was days before the memory of Jack reared it's ugly head again. The papers had been given to Gavin, and they'd been filed. Then, not even a week later, he had a courier bring over the preliminary court response.

Sharon flipped through it while Andy set the table for dinner. He'd been spending more and more time at the apartment, and she was finding that she didn't mind that at all. She originally thought it might be a bit stifling, after being practically alone for so many years. Instead she rather enjoyed having him around. Rusty didn't seem to mind it either.

Rusty. That was something else that Gavin was working on for her. Now that the divorce had been filed, he was putting the adoption in motion. In sixty days her divorce would be final. Thirty days after that, Rusty would be hers. They would be celebrating more than just his attending college at the end of summer.

For that reason, Sharon couldn't completely suppress the smile as she looked through the papers Gavin sent over. It all seemed to be in order. Sharon shook her head as she placed the folder on her desk. "Docket number 14-714306. It's a bit… weird, isn't it? We spend so much time planning a marriage, and then being in a marriage, and if you're lucky, working at a marriage… and then when it ends, after all the fighting and the hurting, and the tears, it all boils down to a docket number in the county clerk's office. It's just so…" Sharon waved a hand, "I don't know." She hobbled away from her desk and back toward the dining room. She took a seat at the table where Andy was laying out dinner.

He glanced at her and grinned. In his t-shirt and a pair of sweats she was utterly adorable. "Sometimes that's all you want to have left of a marriage," He reminded her. Andy set a plate in front of her and moved into the kitchen to grab a couple of glasses of water. Rusty was out for the evening, a movie with Buzz and Julio. Some action adventure thing that the three of them had been drooling about for weeks.

"Maybe." Her head tilted. "I got the best part of him in the end." At his puzzled look, she smiled. "Ricky and Emily. I guess you're right, I'll always feel something for him, and I can't regret all of it."

"Can I get that in writing?" He grinned at her. "Andy was right, I want it stamped and signed." He placed a glass beside her and then moved into what was becoming his customary spot at the table.

Her lips pursed, she pretended to think about it. "Absolutely not," she decided. "I don't want you using it against me later."

"Pity." He shrugged. "I would have framed it and put it on my desk. My desk needs a picture." His eyes lit up with mischief. "Maybe a topless one, like the guys in traffic have in their lockers." When she glared at him, he grinned that much wider. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

"Yes, actually, I can." She lifted her fork and brought it to her lips. She hummed in delight. He'd made the vegetarian scampi she loved so much.

"There's just one question remaining," He said. "Now that you're finally going to be a free woman, what do you have planned."

"Hm." Her lips curved. "Speed dating. I hear it's very popular among older women." She cut her eyes toward him and drew her bottom lip between her teeth. Despite that, a giggle escaped when his eyes narrowed.

"Speed dating?" He leaned toward her. "Really?"

"Yes." Her eyes were dancing. "Find a guy, try him on for size, and if he fits… maybe I'll keep him a while. I'm very old, so it needs to move very quickly, you understand."

"Ah." His head inclined. "Yes, I see. It is the age thing. I can understand it, I mean, you're almost ready for the senior citizen discount line…" Andy leaned closer to her. "But tell me, exactly how long is a while?"

"Oh, I don't know." She settled her chin her hand and smiled at him. "I think it just depends."

"Yeah?" His lips brushed her cheek. His teeth nipped at the soft spot just below her ear. "On what?"

She leaned back, the smile at her lips softened. Her eyes warmed. "How long do I have you for?"

"I think I can spare a few years," He rumbled. He tipped her face up and pressed a kiss to her mouth. "Thirty at least."

"Good," she said against his mouth. "It isn't nearly long enough, but I'll take it."

It wasn't a proposal, they weren't ready for that and given their histories and failed marriages there was a chance that it would never come to that. What they had was each other, and a future that was unwritten. If nothing else, they knew that they wanted to share it, in whatever way possible, together.

~_FIN_


End file.
